^'.^^o, O. '-^'^ .O^ „.*o. <- 



.^'>^/)}/o -^ C 



0°^ 









^'^' .c^--><% 



^ */ 



,^> '-^ 



:<t-"^ 






'^ ^^ :^ 







r. ^-^ 



\.*^ : 



cb ^ 



(5^^^^/!^.^ c^.^rj^% cp^.^;:^'.^ c^.^r-^% 



'.y^f^^ J 



^^ ^' '. 



kV ^ 



Q.. 



. ^h 



^\^ 



,V "^ 















.^ ^ 






<'■''-^^c5^-_o._<:^:--^/^..^,^<^ 






0^ v^ 






■0.1' _, •' '^'/Ta^ n •ClI 







>^ 9> 



<,r -,_^^^»^.•^^■ 






o^\^; .^,<e 








V '-^. " 



^^. % .A^ ^^^\. ./, % .A^' * ' 



\/- .- 



.% cP <-'■■'.%. cP *'*"' -%. 






•# ^''■. •,« 









.v-->^s.r:'.V'^-:vs,-,.v->:,.,,v-r 



%„ ..^ .^.-.%#A^-^^^^^^ //Mrr"*--^*^ --'^i't'"^--*^ * 

.0^ 












«s' A*^ ^ ■'''/ s*- A^ • ^ ''/. s^ A^ ^ '/ 



"^^ ^M 



^.o^- ,*A^;^ 



'%^^' s* •(J.N 



02 " 



A*' 






'^' AiS' Q 



,^" ^ -. 




' '^^^ v^ 



.. ./« <^ 



V 













s^ .G^^ 







3 ^^ 






0, <>.''^'^^0^^\-o.<> 




^-. 



<.^'' 1 



i "^^-0^ r'l^'Vt "^Ao-i 






^Q. 




\- ^ 



4 *aA' 



^^ ^ 



; -fiPf 







\v^ 9> ' ' . . s ^ \^ 









.=.^<i. 



A*^ <- 






' . s " A^' <^ '' / rV ^ *> ' A^ 









% 









^c 



\^ /}&^%.^ 



<>". 






\^ .<^ 



^mi "^^ 






?- «P C « ^-^^K 















^. 






\. 















^. A^' 



cS ^. 






.^^ ^1 



#si: "^-s^ 






s>n,.,„-^- 



";".,% ' .oo^.^iy%%"^ ^^^^ly^'S"^ ^"^^^1';''%' 

%> V ^ ^ " " / ^ -^^ V vO * " / -%, V ^ ^ • « , "^ V ^ > 









..<-.:"•■->' 









,G^ 






v< 









^ '^ 












95, ''' 






".% 



• nfei^.-^^' % ^^45^.^^ 












'■'\ 















*. *^„ 



LIFE OF BRANT 



LIFE 



JOSEPH BRANT-THAYENDANEGEA: 



INCLUDING 



THE BORDER WARS 



AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 



SKETCHES OF THE INDIAN CAMPAIGNS OF GENERALS 
HARMAR, ST. CLAIR, AND WAYNE. 

AND OTHER MATTERS 



CONNECTED WITH THE INDIAN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 
AND GREAT BRITAIN, FROM THE PEACE OF 1783 TO 
THE INDIAN PEACE OF 1795, . 



BY WILLIAM L. STONE. 



IN TWO VOLUMES. 
VOL. I. 



N E W - Y O R K : 

ALEXANDER V. BLAKE, 38 GOLD STREET. 

1838. 



en 



[Entered according to tlie Act of Congress of the United States of America, in the 
year 1838, by George Deakborn & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the DistrictCourt 
for the Southern District of New- York. 



N B w- York: 

Printed by Scatchkrd & Adams, 

No. 38 Gold Street. 



^' X^f 



sr> 



TO THE HONORABLE 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, 

OF ALBANY, 

These volumes are most respectfully inscribed. If 
the efforts of the writer to illustrate more fully and 
minutely than has hitherto been done, the most inte- 
resting portion of American history, in its immediate 
connection with the large and populous State of which 
The Patroon has so long been one of the most distin- 
guished citizens, shall be so fortunate as to merit the 
regard, and receive the approbation, of one so excel- 
lently qualified to judge of its interest and value, there 
will be nothing left unsatisfied to the ambition and 

the hopes of 

His friend and servant, 

THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth and parentage — Discussion of the doubts cast upon his origin — Visit of Mo- 
hawk chiefs to Glueen Anne — Evidence of Brant's descent from one of those — 
Digression from the main subject, and Extracts from the private and official jour- 
nals of Sir Wilham Johnson — Connexion between Sir WiMiam and the family of 
Brant — Incidental references to the old French war — Illustrations of Indian pro- 
ceedings, speeches, &c. — Brant's parentage satisfactorily established — Takes 
the field in the Campaign of Lake George (1765.) — Is engaged at the conquest 
of Niagara (1759.) — Efforts of Sir William Johnson to civilize the Indians — Brant 
is sent, with other Indian youths, to the Moor Charity School, at Lebanon — Leaves 
school — Anecdote — Is engaged on public business by Sir William — As an Inter- 

Freter for the Missionaries — Again takes the field, in the wars against Pontiac — 
ntended massacre at Detroit — Ultimate overthrow of Pontiac — First marriage of 
Brant — Entertains the Missionaries — 'Again employed on public business — Death 
of his wife — Engages with Mr. Stewart in translating the Scriptures — jMarries 
again — Has serious religious impressions — Selects a bosom friend and confidant, 
after the Indian custom — Death of bis friend — His grief, and refusal to choose 
another friend. -..--.---- Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 
Early symptoms of disaffection at Boston — Origin of the Revolutionary War — First 
blood shed in 1770 — Stirring eloquence of Joseph Warren — Feelings of Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson — His influence with the Indians and Germans, and his unpleasant 
position — Last vi.^it of Sir William to England — His death — IVIysterious circum- 
stances attending it — Suspicions of suicide unjust — His son. Sir John Johnson, 
succeeds to his title and estates — His son-in-law, Col. Guy Johnson, to his oflice 
as Superintendant General of the Indians — Early life of Sir John — Joseph Brant 
appointed Secretary to Guy Johnson — Influence of the Johnson family — Revolu- 
tionary symptoms in Tryon County, fomented by the proceedings in New Eng- 
land — First meeting of Tryon County Wbigs — Declaration of Rights — First meet- 
ing of Congress — Effect of its proceedings — in England — Tardiness of Provincial 
legislature of New- York — Spirit of the people — Notes of preparation in Massachu- 
setts, &c. — Overt acts of rebellion in several Stnfes — Indians exasperated bv the 
Virginia borderers in 1774 — Melancholy story of Lo^an — Campaign of Lord Dun- 
more and Colonel Lewis — Battle of theKanhavva — Speech of Logan — Its authen- 
ticity questioned — Peace of Chilicothe — Unhappy feeling of the Indians. - 29 

CHAPTER IIL 
Unyielding course of the parent Government — Efforts of the Earl of Chatham una- 
vailing — Address to the Crown from New-York— ^Leslie's Expedition to Salem— 
Affair of Lexington — Unwise movements of Tryon County loyalists — Reaction 
— Public meetings — The Sammons family — Interference of the Johnsons — 
Cluarrel at CaUghnawaga — Spirited indications at Cherry Valley-^Counteracling: 
efforts of the Johnsons among their retainers — Intrigues with (he Indians — 
Massachusetts attempts the same — Correspondence with the Storkhridge Indians 
—Letter to Mr. Kirkland— His removal By Guy John«on — Neutrality of the 
Oneidas — Intercepted despatch from Brant to the Oneidas — Apprehensions of 
Guy Johnson — Correspondence — Farther precautions of the Committees — Re- 
verence for the Laws — Letter of Guy Johnson to the Committees of Albany and 
Schenectady — Substance of the reply. .--.-.* 49 



CHAPTER IV. 
Council of the Mohawk chiefs at Guy Park--A second council called by Johnson 
at. Cosby's Manor — Proceeds thither with his retinue — First full meeting of Tryon 
County Committee — Correspondence with Guy Johnson — No council held — 
Johnson proceeds farther West, accompanied by his family and most of the In- 
dians — Consequent apprehensions of the people — Communication from Massa- 
chusetts Consress—Ticonderoga and Crown Point taken by Ethan Allen — Skenes- 
borough and'St. Johns surprised — Farther proceedings in Massachusetts — Battle 
of Bunker Hill — Death of Warren— Council with the Oneidas and Tuscaroras at 
German Flatts — Speech to the Indians — Subsequent council with the Oneidas — 
Conduct of the people toward Guy Johnson — Speech to, and reply of Oneidas — 
Guy Johnson moves westwardly to Ontario — His letter to the Provincial Congress 
of New- York — Holds a great Indian council at the West — Unfavourable influence 
upon the dispositions of the Indians — Causes of their partiality for the English^ 
Grreat, but groundless alarm of the people — Guy Johnson, with Brant and the 
Indian warriors, descends the St. Lawrence to Montreal — Council there — Sir Guy 
Carleton and Gen. Haldimand complete the work of winning the Indians over to 
the cause of the Crown. --------- Page 71 

CHAPTER V. 

Meeting of the second Continental Congress — Measures of defence — Declaration — 
National fast — Organization of an Indian department — Address to the Six Na- 
tions — Council called at Albany — Preliminary consultation at German Flatts — 
Speeches of the Oneidas and ethers — Adjourn to Albany — Brief interview with 
the commissioners — Conference and interchange of speeches with the Albanians — 
Proceedings of the grand council — Speeches of the commissioners — Replies of the 
Indians — Conclusion of the grand council — Resumption of the conference with 
the Albanians — Speech of the Albany Committee — Reply of the Indians — Dis- 
closures of Guy Johnson's proceedings at Oswego — Close of the proceedings — 
Epidemic among the Indians— Small benefit resulting from the council — Proceed- 
ings in Tryon County resumed — Doubtful position of New-York — Symptoms ot 
disaffection to the cause of the people— Sir John Johnson — Sheriff White deposed 
by the people — The royal authorities superseded by appointments from the peo- 
ple — Affray at Johnstown — First gun fired at Sampson Sammons — White recom- 
missioned by Tiyon — His flight — Labors of the Committee— Opposition of the 
Tories — Designs of Sir John Johnson and Sir Guy Carleton — Letter and depu- 
tation to Sir John — Prisoners for political offences sent to gaol — Letter from Pro- 
vincial Congress — Mohawks commence fighting at St. Johns — Speech of the Ca- 
najoharies in explanation— Indians apply for release of prisoners — Review of the 
progress of the Revolution in other parts of the Colonies — Proceedings of Parlia- 
ment — Burning of Falmouth — Descent upon Canada — Ethan Allen taken — Ar- 
nold's expedition — Siege of GLuebec — Fail of Montgomery — Caughnawaga and 
Delaware Indians. -.....-...91 

CHAPTER VI. 

Lord Dunmore — Glance at the South — Suspicious conduct of Sir John Johnson — 
Conduct of the Tories in Tryon County — Gen. Schuyler directed by Congress 
to march into that Coimty and disarm the Tories — Preliminary mission to the 
Lower Mohawks — Message to them — Their displeasure and reply — March of 
Schuyler — Meets the Indians at Schenectady — Interview and speeches — Advance 
of Schuyler — Letter to Sir John Johnson — Interview — Negotiations of capitula- 
tion — Terms proposed — Schuyler advances to Caughnawaga — Joined by Tryon 
County Militia — Farther correspondence with Sir John — Interview with the In- 
dian mediators — Terms of surrender adjusted — Schuyler marches to Johns- 
town — Sir John, his household, and the Highlanders, disarmed — Troops scour 
the country to bring in the loyalists— Disappointment as to the supposed Tory 
Depot of warlike munitions — Return of Schuyler to Albany — Resolution of Con- 
gress — Additional trouble with Sir John — Preparations for his seizure — Expedi- 
tion of Col. Dayton — Flight of the B-ironet and his partisans to Canada — Their 
sulTt-rings — And subsequent conduct — How the violation of his parole was con- 
sidered. .---.......- 119 



CHAPTER VII. 

History of Brant resumed — Advanced to the chieftaincy of the Confederacy— Mode 
of appointing chiefs and sachems — Embarks for England — Arrives in London — 
Received with niarited consideration— Becomes acquainted with James Boswell 
and others — Agrees to espouse the Royal cause, and returns to America— Steals 
through the country to Canada — Curious supposed letter to President Wheelock 
— Batlle of the Cedars— Cowardice of Major Butterfield — Outrages of the In- 
dians—Story of Capt. M'Kinstry, who was saved from the stake by Brant — In- 
dicfuation of Washington, the people, and Congress — Resolutions of retaliation 
—Mutual complaints of treatment of prisoners — Murder of Gen. Gordon — In- 
dio'nation at the outrage — Indian deputation at Philadelphia — Speech to them — 
Congress resolves upon the employment of an Indian force — Schuyler opposed- 
Review of the incidents of the war elsewhere — Destitution of ihe Army — Eva- 
cuation of Boston by the English — Disastrous termination of the Canadian cam- 
paign — D'.plorable condition of the army — Humanity of Sir Guy Carleton — 
— Glance at the South — Declaration of Independence — Spirit of Tryon County 
— Cherry Valley — Fortifications at Fort Stanwix — American army moves to 
New- York — Arrival of the British fleet and army— Battle of Long-Island— 
Washington evacuates New-York— Battle of White Plains — Retreats across 
New-Jersey— Followed by Cornwallis— Defeat of Arnold on Lake Champlain 

—Fall of Rhode Island— Battle of I'renton. Page 147 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Continuation of movements in New Jersey— Extinguishment of the council-fire at 
Onondaga — Tryon County — Colonel Harper's mission to Oghkwaga — The Har- 
per family — Adventure at the Johnstone settlement — Capture of Good Peter and 
his party— Thayendanegea crosses from Canada to Oghkwaga— Interview with 
the Rev. Mr. Johnstone — Doubtful course of Brant — Feverish situation of the 
people— Expedition of General Herkimer to Unadilla— Remarkable meeting be- 
tween Herkimer and Brant— Meditated act of treachery— Wariness of the 
chief— Meetins abruptly terminated — Ended in a storm — Brant draws off to Os- 
weao — Grand~council there— The Indians generally join the Royal standard — 
Approach of Brant upon Cherry Valley— How defeated— Death of Lieutenant 

Wormwood. .-----175 

CHAPTER IX. 

British preparations for the prosecution of the war — Indications at the North — Doubt- 
ful position and conduct of General Howe — Embarrassing to the Americans — In- 
tercepted correspondence — General Howe sails to the Chesapeake— Enters Phila- 
delphia in trium[)h — Burgoyne approaches from the North — Indian policy— Sir 
Guv Carleton— False estimates of the strength of Ticonderoga— Burgoyne arrives 
at Crown Point— Feasts the Indians- Invests Ticonderoga— Carries the out- 
works—Fortifies Sugar Hill — The fortress evacuated by St. Clair— Retreat of the 
Americans— Battles near Skenesborough and at Fort Ann— Burgoyne enters the 
valley of the Hudson — Schuyler, without means, retreats from Fort Edward- 
Terror of the people— Cruelties of the Indians— Story of Miss M'Crea— General 
flight of the population— Mrs. Ann Eliza Bleecker— Heroism of Mrs. Schuyler— 
Attempted assassination of General Schuyler. ----- 195 

CHAPTER X. 
Expedition against the Mohawk Valley from Oswego — Despondency of the people 
in Tryon County— Letter of John' Jay— Arrest of several of the disaffected — 
Fhght of others to Canada — Schuyler's complaints of the cowardice of the people 
— Great discouragements — Proclamation of General Herkimer— Letter from 
Thomas Spencer— St. Leger's approach— Caution and plan of his march — Diary 
of Lieut. Bird— Fort Stanwix invested— Colonel Gansevoort takes cotnmand— Its 
deplorable condition — Gansevoort joined by Willett — Story of Captain Gregg-^ 
Situation of the garrison — Arrival of St. Leger — His proclamation — Burgoyne's 
afl^airs becoming critical— Aff'air of Bennington— General Herkimer, with the 
Tryon County militia, advances to the relief of Gansevoort-Battle of Oriskany— 
Bloody upon both sides— Unexampled bravery of Captain Gardenier— Major 
Watts — Dissatisfaction of the Indians — Sortie and success of Colonel Willett — 
Death and character of General Herkimer. ------ 2C«?> 

2 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 
Siege of Fort Schuyler continued— Forced letter from prisoners to Col. Gansevoort 
— St. Leger summons the garrison to surrender — Refusal of Gansevoort — Appeal 
of Sir John Johnson to the people of Tryon County — Secret expedition of Colonel 
Willett and Major Slockwell — Schuyler orders Arnold to the relief of Gansevoort 
— Willett proceeds to Albany — Arrest of Walter Butler, and others, at German 
Flatts — Tried and convicted as a spy — Reprieved — Sent to Albany — Escapes — ■ 
Arnold's proclamation — Advance of the besiegers — Uneasiness of the garrison — 
Sudden flight of St. Leger and his forces — Stratagem of Arnold — Story of Hon- 
Yost Schuyler — Merriment and mischief of the Indians — Arrival of Arnold at the 
Fort — The spoils of victory — Public estimation of Gansevoort's services — Ad- 
dress to his soldiers — His promotion — Address of his oflicers. - Page 249 

CHAPTER XII. 
Recurrence to the invasion of Burgoyne — General Schuyler again superseded by 
Gates — Causes of this injustice — Battle of Stillwater — Both armies entrench — 
Battle and victory of Behmus's Heights — Funeral of General Frazer— Retreat of 
Burgoyne — Difliculties increasing upon him — His capitulation — Aleeting of Bur- 
goyne and Gates — Deportment of Gates toward Gen. Washington — Noble con- 
duct of Gen. Schuyler. ,-----.-. 265 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Sir Henry Clinton's attempt to co-operate with Burgoyne — Storming of Forts Clin- 
ton and Montgomery — Burning of ^sopus — Review of military operations else- 
where — Expedition to Peekskill — Of Gov. Tryon to Danbury — Progress of Sir 
William Howe in Pennsylvania — Battle of Brandy wine — Massacreof the Paoli — 
Battle of Germantown — Death of Count Donop — Murder of Captain Deilz and 
family at Berne — John Taylor — Lady Johnson ordered to leave Albany — Exas- 
peration of Sir John — Attempts to abduct Mr. Taylor — An Indian and white man 
bribed to assassinate General Schuyler — Fresh alarms in Tryon County — Ad- 
dress of Congress to the Six Nations — The appeal produces no effect — Articles 
of confederation — Close of the year. ..-...- 280 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Treaty of alliance with France — Policy of France — Incidents of the Winter — Pro- 
jected expedition against St Johns — Lafayette appointed to the command of the 
North — Failure of the enterprise for lack of means — Disappointment and chagrin 
of Lafayette — Unpleasant indications respecting the Western Indians — Indian 
council at Johnstown — Attended by Lafayette — Its proceedings — And result — 
Reward offered for Major Carleton — Letter of Lafayette — He retires from the 
Northern Department — Return of the loyalists for their families — Unopposed — 
Their aggressions — Prisoners carried into Canada — Their fate — Re-appcarancc 
ofBrant atOghkwagaand Unadilla— Anecdote of Brant — Comparative cruelty of 
the Tories and Indians — Murder of a family— Exposed situation of the people — 
Captain McKean — Sends a challenge to Brant — Burning of Springfield — First 
battle in Schoharie. - - - 298 

CHAPTER XV. 

The story of Wyoming — Glance at its history — Bloody battle between the Shawa- 
nese and Delawares — Count Zinzendorf— Conflicting Indian claims and titles — 
Rival land companies of Connecticut and Pennsylvania — Murder of Tadeusund 
— The first Connecticut Colony destroyed by the Indians — Controversy respecting 
their titles — Rival Colonies planted in Wyoming — The civil wars of Wyoming- 
Bold adventure of Captain Ogden — Fierce passions of the people — The Connecti- 
cut settlers prevail — Growth of the settlements— Annexed to Connecticut — Break- 
ing out of theRevolution — The inhabitants,stimulated by previous hatred,take sides 
— Arrest of suspected persons in January — Sent to Hartford— Evil consequences 
— The enemy appear upon the outskirts of the settlements in the Spring — Inva- 
sion by Colonel John Butler and the Indians— Colonel Zebulon Butler prepares 
to oppose them — Two of the forts tnken — Colonel Z. Butler marches to encounter 
the enemy- Battle of Wyoming— The Americans defeated— The flight and mas- 
sacre — Fort Wyoming besieged — Timidity of the garrison — Zebulon Butler's 
authority not sustained — He escapes from the fort — Colonel Denniston forced to 



CONTENTS. XI 

capitulate— Destruction of the Valley— Barbarities of the Tories— Brant not in the 
expedition— Catharine JMontour— Fiigiit of the fugitives— Expedition of Colonel 
Hartley up the Susquehanna— Colonel Zebulon Butlnr repossesses hnnself of Wyo- 
ming', and rebuilds the fort— Indian skirmishes— Close of the history of Wyo- 
ming. ^".-'^is 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Evacuation of Philadelphia by Sir Henry Clinton— Followed through New Jersey 
by Washington— Battle of Monmouth— Conduct and arrest of General Lee- 
Retreat of the enemy— Arrival of the French fleet— Combined attack of the Ame- 
ricans and French upon the British armv of Rhode Island— British fleet escapes 
from Count D'Estaing— Battle of Rho'de Island— Failure of the expedition- 
Projected campaigns against the Indians — Captains Pipe and White-Eyes — 
M'Kee and Girty— General M'Intosh ordered against the Sandusky towns — 
Irruption of Brant into Cobleskill— Of M'Donald into the Schoharie settlements 
— Pusillanimity of Colonel Vrooman— Bravery of Colonel Harper— His expedi- 
tion to Albany— Captivity of Mr. Sawyer— Slays six Indians and escapes— Colo- 
nel WiUiam Butler sent to Schoharie— Morgan's rifle corps— Daring adventures 
of Murphy and Elerson— Death of Service, a noted Tory— Murphy's subsequent 
adventures— Affairs at Fort Schuyler— Alarming number of desertions— Destruc- 
tion of Andros-town by the Indians— Conflagration of the German Flatts — Ex- 
pedition of Colonel WiUiam Butler from Schoharie to Unadllla and Oghk- 



vvaga. 



343 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Walter N. Butler— His flight from Albany, bent on revenge— The Great Tree- 
Hostile indications among the Senecas and Cayugas — Premonitions of an attack 
by Butler and Brant upon^Cherry Valley— Discredited by Colonel Alden— Scouts 
sent out and captured — Surprise of the town — Massacre and burning — Death of 
Colonel Alden— Families of Mr. Wells, Mr. Dunlop, and others— Brutality of the 
Tories— Family of Mr. Mitchell— The monster Newberry— Departure of the 
enemy with their captives — A night of gloom — Women and children sent back- 
Letter of Butler to Gen. Schuyler — Murder of Mrs, Campbell's inother— Vindi- 
cation of Brant — Interesting incident — Brant's opinion of Capt. M'Kean — Colo- 
nel John Butler laments the conduct of his son — Letter of General James Clinton 
to Walter Butler— Letter of Butler in reply— Mnljy Brant—Pnrticulars of Mrs. 
Campbell's captivity — Feast of thanksgiving for their victory — The great feast of 
the White Dogs— Return of WalterButler from auebec— Col. Butler negotiates 
with the Indians for Mrs. Campbell— She eoes to Niagara— Catharine Montour 
and her sons— Mrs. Campbell finds her children— Descends the St. Lawrence to 
Montreal— Meets Mrs. Butler— Arrives at Albany, and is joined by her husband 
—Grand campaign projected— Jacob Helmer and" others sent privately to Johns- 
town for the iron chest of Sir John— Execution of Helmer— Arrival of British 
Commissioners— Not received— E.xchange of Ministers with France— Incidents 
of the war elsewhere for the year. ..----- 369 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Indian siege of Fort Laurens— Successful stratagems— Flight of the pack-horses — 
The fort abandoned— Projected enterprise from Detroit- Gov. Hamilton captured 
at St. Vincent by Col. Clarke— Projects of Brant— Unfasiness in the West of 
New- York— Deliberations of the Oneidas and Onondagas— Brant's projects de- 
feated—Treachery of the Onondagas— Colonel Van Sciiaick marches to lay waste 
their towns— Instructions of General Clinton— Passage of Wood Creek and_ 
Oneida Lake— Advance upon the Indian towns— Their destruction— Return of 
the expedition to Fort Schuyler— Mission of the Oneidas to Fort Schuyler m be- 
half of the Onondagas— Speech of Good Peter— Reply of Colonel Van Schaick— 
Irruption of Tories and Indians into the lower Mohawk country— Stone Arabia — 
Defence of his house by Captain Richer— The Indians in Schoharie— General 
Clinton traverses the Mohawk valley— M'Clellan's expedition to Oswegatchie— 
Unsuccessful— Irruption of the Onondagas into Cobleskill— Defeat of the Ame- 
ricans—The settlement destroyed— Murders in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt- 
Irruptions of Tories into Warwasing— Invasion of M inisink— Battle near the Dela 
^vare — Massacre of the Orange County militia— Battle with the Shawanese. 396 



INTRODUCTION. 



It is related by ^sop, that a forester once meeting with a Hon, 
they travelled together for a time, and conversed amicably without 
much differing in opinion. At length a dispute happening to arise 
upon the question of superiority between their respective races, the 
former, in the absence of a better argument, pointed to a monument, 
on which was sculptured, in marble, the statue of a man striding 
over the body of a vanquished lion. " If this," said the lion, " is 
all you have to say, let us be the sculptors, and you will see the 
lion striding over the vanquished man." 

The moral of this fable should ever be borne in mind when con- 
templating the character of that brave and ill-used race of men, now 
melting away before the Anglo-Saxons like the snow beneath a ver- 
tical sun— :-the aboriginals of America. The Indians are no sculp, 
tors. No monuments of their own art commend to future ages 
the events of the past. No Indian pen traces the history of their 
tribes and nations, or records the deeds of their warriors and 
chiefs — their prowess and their wrongs. Their spoilers have been 
their historians ; and although a reluctant assent has been awarded 
to some of the nobler traits of their nature, yet, without yielding a 
due allowance for the peculiarities of their situation, the Indian 
character has been presented with singular uniformity as being cold, 
cruel, morose, and revengeful ; unrelieved by any of those varying 
traits and characteristics, those lights and shadows, which are 
admitted in respect to other people no less wild and uncivilized 
than they. 

Without pausing to reflect that, even when most cruel, they have 
been practising the trade of war — always dreadful — as much in 
conformity to their own usages and laws, as have their more civi- 
lized antagonists, the white historian has drawn them with the 
characteristics of demons. Forgetting that the second of the He- 
brew monarchs did not scruple to saw his prisoners with saws, and 
harrow them with harrows of iron ; forgetful, likewise, of the scenes 
at Smithfield, under the direction of our own British ancestors ; the 



Xiv INTRODUCTION. 

historians of the poor untutored Indians, almost with one accord, 
have denounced them as monsters sui generis — of unparalleled and 
unapproacliable barbarity ; as though the summary tomahawk were 
worse than the iron tortures of the harrow, and the torch of the 
Mohawk hotter than the faggots of Queen Mary. 

Nor does it seem to have occurred to the " pale-faced " writers, 
that the identical cruelties, the records and descriptions of which 
enter so largely into the composition of the earlier volumes of Ame- 
rican history, were not barbarities in the estimation of those who 
practised them. The scalp-lock was an emblem of chivalry. Every 
warrior, in shaving his head for battle, was careful to leave the 
lock of defiance upon his crown, as for the bravado, " Take it if you 
can." The stake and the torture were identified with their rude 
notions of the power of endurance. They were inflicted upon cap- 
tives of their own race, as well as upon the whites ; and with 
their own braves these trials were courted, to enable the sufferer 
to exhibit . the courage and fortitude with which they could be 
borne — the proud scorn with which all the pain that a foe might 
inflict, could be endured. 

But they fell upon slumbering hamlets in the night, and massacred 
defenceless women and children ! This, again, was their own mode 
of warfare, as honourable in their estimation as the more courteous 
methods of committing wholesale murder, laid down in the books. 

But of one enormity they were ever innocent. Whatever degree 
of personal hardship and suffering their female captives were com- 
pelled to endure, their persons were never dishonoured by violence ; 
a fact which can be predicated, we apprehend, of no other victo- 
rious soldiery that ever lived. 

In regard, moreover, to the countless acts of cruelty alleged to have 
been perpetrated by the savages, it must still be borne in mind that 
the Indians have not been the sculptors — the Indians have had no 
writer to relate their own side of the story. There has been none 
" to weep for Logan !" while his wrongs have been unrecorded. 
The annals of man, probably, do not attest a more kindly reception 
of intruding foreigners, than was given to the Pilgrims landing at 
Plymouth, by the faithful Massassoit, and the tribes under his juris- 
diction. Nor did the forest kings take up arms until they but too 
clearly saw, that either their visiters or themselves, must be driven 
from the soil which was their own — the fee of which was derived 
from the Great Spirit. And the nation is yet to be discovered that 
will not fight for their homes, the graves of their fathers, and their 
family altars. Cruel they were, in the prosecution of their contests ; 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

but it would require the aggregate of a large number of predatory 
incursions and isolated burnings, to balance the awful scene of con- 
flagration and blood, which at once extinguished the power of Sas- 
sacus, and the brave and indomitable Narragansets over whom he 
reigned. No ! until it is forgotten, that by some Christians in infant 
Massachusetts it was held to be right to kill Indians as the agents 
and familiars of Azazel; until the early records of even tolerant Con- 
necticut, which disclose the fact that the Indians were seized by the 
Puritans, transported to the British West Indies, and sold as slaves, 
are lost ; until the Amazon and La Plata shall have washed away 
the bloody history of the Spanish American conquest ; and until 
the fact that Cortez stretched the unhappy Guatimozin naked upon 
a bed of burning coals, is proved to be a fiction, let not the American 
Indian be pronounced the most cruel of men ! 

If, then, the moral of the fable is thus applicable to aboriginal 
history in general, it is equally so in regard to very many of their 
chiefs, whose names have been forgotten, or only known to be detested. 
Peculiar circumstances have given prominence, and fame of a cer. 
tain description, to some few of the forest chieftains, as in the in- 
stances of Powhatan in the south, the mighty Philip in the east, and 
the great Pontiac of the north-west. But there have been many 
others, equal, perhaps, in courage, and skill, and energy, to the dis- 
tinguished chiefs just mentioned, whose names have been steeped in 
infamy in their preservation, because " the lions are no sculptors." 
They have been described as ruthless butchers of women and children, 
without one redeeming quality save those of animal courage and in- 
difference to pain ; while it is not unlikely, that were the actual 
truth known, their characters, for all the high qualities of the sol- 
dier, might sustain an advantageous comparison with those of hah 
the warriors of equal rank in Christendom. Of this class was a 
prominent subject of the present volume, whose name was terrible in 
every American ear during the war of Independence, and was long 
afterward associated with every thing bloody, ferocious, and hateful. 
It is even within our own day, that the name of Brant * would 
chill the young blood by its very sound, and cause the lisping 
child to cling closer to the knee of its mother. As the master spirit 
of the Indians engaged in the British service during the war of the 
Revolution, not only were all the border massacres charged directly 
upon him, but upon his head fell the public maledictions for every 

* Almost invariably written Brandt in the books, even in despite of nis own 
orthography, which was uniformly Brant. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

individual act of atrocity which marked that sanguinary contest, 
whether committed by Indians, or tories, or by the exasperated 
regular soldiery of the foe. In many instances great injustice was 
done to him, as in regard to the affair of Wyoming, in connexion 
with which his name has been used by every preceding annalist who 
has written upon the subject ; while it has, moreover, for the same 
cause, been consigned to infamy, deep and foul, in the deathless song 
of Campbell. In other cases again, the Indians of the Six Nations, 
in common with their chief, were loaded with execrations for atro- 
cities of which all were alike innocent — because the deeds recorded 
were never committed — it having been the policy of the public 
writers, and those in authority, not only to magnify actual occur- 
rences, but sometimes, when these were wanting, to draw upon their 
imaginations for accounts of such deeds of ferocity and blood, as 
might best serve to keep alive the strongest feelings of indigna- 
tion against the parent country, and likewise induce the people to 
take the field for revenge, if not driven thither by the nobler im- 
pulse of patriotism.* 

Such deliberate fictions, for political purposes, as that by Dr. 
Franklin, just referred to, were probably rare ; but the investigations 
into which the author has been led, in the preparation of the present 
work, have satisfied him, that from other causes, much of exaggera- 
tion and falsehood has obtained a permanent footing in American 
history. Most historians of that period, English and American, 
wrote too near the time when the events they were describing oc- 
curred, for a dispassionate investigation of truth ; and other writers 
who have succeeded, have too often been content to follow in the 
beaten track, without incurring the labour of diligent and calm in- 
qfbiry. Reference has been made above to the affair of Wyoming, 
concerning which, to this day, the world has been abused with 
monstrous fictions — with tales of horrors never enacted. The ori- 
ginal causes of this historical inaccuracy are very obvious. As 
already remarked, our histories were written at too early a day ; 
when the authors, or those supplying the materials, had, as it were, 
but just emerged from the conflict. Their passions had not yet 
become cooled, and they wrote under feelings and prejudices which 
could not but influence minds governed even by the best intentions. 
The crude, verbal reports of the day — tales of hear-say, coloured by 
fancy and aggravated by fear, — not only found their way into the 
newspapers, but into the journals of military officers. These, with 

* See Appendix A — the well-known scalp-story of Dr. Franklin — long believed, 
and recently revived and included in several works of authentic history. 



INTRODUCTION- XVU 

all the disadvantages incident to flying rumors, increasing in size 
and enormity with every repetition, were used too often, it is ap- 
prehended, without farther examination, as authentic materials for 
history. Of this class of works was the Military Journal of Dr. 
James Thatcher, first published in 1823, and immediately recog- 
nized as historical authority. Now, so far as the author speaks of 
events occurring within his own knowledge, and under his own per. 
sonal observation, the authority is good. None can be better. 
But the worthy army surgeon did not by any means confine his 
diary to facts and occurrences of that description. On the contrary, 
his journal is a general record of incidents and transactions occur- 
ring in almost every camp, and at every point of hostilities, as the 
reports floated from mouth to mouth through the division of the 
army where the journalist happened to be engaged, or as they reached 
him through the newspapers. Hence the present author has found 
the Doctor's journal a very unsafe authority in regard to facts, 
of which the Doctor was not a spectator or directly cognizant. 
Even the diligent care of Marshall did not prevent his measurably 
falling into the same errors, in the first edition of his Life of Wash- 
ington, with regard to Wyoming ; and it was not until more than a 
quarter of a century afterward, when his late revised edition of that 
great work was about to appear, that, by the assistance of Mi". 
Chakles Miner, an intelligent resident of Wilkesbarre, the readers 
of that eminent historian were correctly informed touching the revo- 
lutionary tragedy in that valley. Nor even then was the correction 
entire, inasmuch as the name of Brant was still retained, as the 
leader of the Indians on that fearful occasion. Nor were the ex- 
aggerations in regard to the invasion of Wyoming greater than 
were those connected with the irruption into, and destruction of, 
Cherry Valley, as the reader will discover in the course of the en- 
suing pages. Indeed, the writer, in the preparation of materials for 
this work, has encountered so much that is false recorded in history 
as sober verity, that he has at times been disposed almost to univer- 
sal scepticism in regard to uninspired narration. 

In conclusion of this Introduction, a short history of the origin of 
the present work may not be impertinent. It was the fortune of 
the author to spend several of his early years, and commence his 
public life, in the valley of the Mohawk — than which the country 
scarce affords a more beautiful region. The lower section of this 
valley was entered by the Dutch traders, and settlements were com- 
menced, originally at Schenectady, very soon after the first fort was 
built at Albany, then called Fort Orange, by Henry Christiaens iit 



XVlll INTRODUCTION. 

1614. The Dutch gradually pushed their settlements up the Mo- 
hawk on the rich bottom lands of the river, as far as Caughnawaga. 
Beyond that line, and especially in the upper section of the valley 
west of the Little Falls, and embracing the broad and beautiful gar- 
den of the whole district known as the German Flatts, the first 
white settlers introduced were Germans — being a division of the Pa- 
latinates, who emigrated to America early in the eighteenth century, 
under the patronage of Queen Anne. Three thousand Germans 
came over at the time referred to, about the year 1709, a portion 
of whom settled in Pennsylvania. The residue ascended the Hud- 
son to a place called East Camp, now in the county of Columbia. 
From thence they found their way into the rich valley of the Scho- 
harie-kili, about the year 1713, and thence to the German Flatts, of 
which they were in possession as early as 1720. The first colony, 
planting themselves in Schoharie, consisted of between forty and 
fifty families. Some disagreements soon after arising among 
them, twelve of these families separated from their companions ; and, 
pushing farther westward beyond the Little Falls, planted themselves 
down upon the rich alluvial flatts at the confluence of the West Ca- 
nada Creek and the Mohawk. 

At the time of its discovery, that valley was occupied by the Mo- 
hawk Indians, the head of the extended confederacy of the Five 
Nations — the Iroquois of the French, and the Romans, as Doctor 
Colden has denominated them, of the New World. Of this confe- 
deracy, the Mohawks were the head or leading nation, as they were 
also the fiercest.* The Five Nations early attached themselves to 

* " I have been told by old men in New England, who remembered the time 
when the Mohawks made war on their Indians (the Mohicans), that as soon as a 
single Mohawk was discovered in their country, their Indians raised a cry from 
hill to hill, ^ Mohawk ! Ji Mohawk ! upon which they all fled, like sheep before 
wolves, without attempting to make the least resistance or defence on their side ; 
and that the poor New England Indians immediately ran to the Christian 
houses, and the Mohawks often pursued them so closely, that they entered along 
with them, and knocked their brains out in the presence of the people of the house." 
[Colderi's Six Nations.] The excellent Heckewelder, in his paramount affection 
for the Lenni Lenape, enters into a long argument to disprove Colden upon this 
point ; maintaining that the Mohawks were never of more terrific fame than the 
Delawares. The authorities, however, are against the good Moravian missionary, 
to which the writer may add the weight of the following incident, of comparatively 
recent occurrence : — Some ten or twelve years ago, a wandering Mohawk had 
straggled away from the ancient home of his tribe, as far as the State of Maine, and 
presented himself, one day, in the streets of a small town not far from the Penobscot 
river. Indian forms and faces were not stangers in this little community, there 
being a remnant of the Penobscots yet existing in the neighbourhood, who were in 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

the English, and were consequently often engaged in hostilities with 
the French of Canada, and especially with the Hurons and Adiron- 
dacks or Algonquins — powerful nations in alliance with th^ Cana- 
dians. Another consequence was, that the Mohawk valley, and in- 
deed the whole country inhabited by the Five Nations, were the 
theatre of successive wars, from the discovery down to the close of the 
war of the American Revolution. There is, therefore, no section of 
the United States so rich in historical incident, as the valley of the 
Mohawk and the contiguous territory at the west. 

At the time of the author's residence in the Mohawk country, the 
materials of that history, especially that portion of them connected 
with events subsequent to the conquest of Canada by Great Britain, 
were for the most part ungathered. The events of the war of the 
Revolution, which nowhere else raged so furiously, and was no- 
where else marked with such bitter and entire desolation, were then 
fresh in the recollections of the people ; and many a time and oft 
were the recitals listened to with thrilling interest, and laid up in 
the store-house of memory, as among the richest of its traditionary 
treasures. Nor was the interest of these verbal narratives diminished 
by visiting the sites of the old fortifications, strolling over the bat- 
tie- fields, ahd noting the shot-holes in the walls of such houses as had 
stood out the contest, and the marks of cannon balls upon the trunks 
of trees yet remaining on fields which had been scenes of bloody 
strife. 

Several years afterward it occurred to the author to undertake 
a task which he ought to have commenced years before, viz. the 
composition of a historical memoir of the Mohawk Valley, which 
would embody those written and unwritten materials of history, now 
fast disappearing by the death of the actors in the scenes to be de- 
scribed, and the loss of papers and manuscripts, of which such 
reckless destruction is allowed in this courxtry. In the progress of 

the habit of visiting the place, four or five times a year, for the purchase of such 
necessaries as their means could command. It happened that a party of them had 
come in on the very day of the Mohawk's arrival ; and as he was lounging through 
the street, he came suddenly upon them in turning a corner. The recognition, on 
their part, was instantaneous, and was evidently accompanied by emotions of alarm 
and distrust. " Mohawk, Mohawk," was muttered by one and another, and so 
long as he remained in sight, their eyes were fixed upon him with an evident expres- 
sion of uneasiness. As for the Mohawk, he condescended only to give them a pass- 
ing glance, and went on his way with the same lounging, indifferent step that he had 
exhibited from the first. He was a superb-looking fellow, of about 25, full six feet 
in height, and could easily have demolished three or four of the dwarfish and effemi- 
nate Penobscots. 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

thought and investigation upon the subject, it was soon determined 
to embrace in the proposed memoir some biographical account of the 
Great Chief of the Six Nations, Joseph Brant — Thayendanegea ; 
but there was yet another distinguished name, whose history and 
fame were intimately connected with the Mohawks, and whose 
character has neither been justly described nor well understood. 
The reader will probably anticipate the name, Sir William John- 
son. By this time it was apparent that the work, if executed, 
must be more extended than had originally been contemplated ; and a 
few slight preparations were made for its commencement ten years 
ago. 

It was some time in the year 1829 that the design was abandoned. 
Calling upon his venerable friend Chancellor Kent, one morning, for 
the purpose of borrowing a rare volume of a still rarer history ol 
the old French war of 1755-'63, the author was informed that his de- 
sign had been anticipated by William W. Campbell, Esq., a young 
gentleman of promise who was just coming to the bar — a native of 
the country to be occupied as historic ground — and whose work was 
then nearly ready for the press. Under these circumstances, the 
project of the author was at once relinquished. 

Mr. Campbell's book — " Annals of Tryon County," — made its 
appearance in 1831 ; and was at once found valuable for its facts, 
and creditable alike to the industry and talents of an author, who, 
although then so young, possessed the enterprise to undertake the ne- 
cessary labour, and the ambition to inscribe his name upon the roll 
of American historians. Still, the work was not a substitute for that 
which the author had proposed ; its object was a more limited his- 
tory, both of time and territory, than had been entertained in respect 
of the present work. Mr, Campbell's Annals, with the exception of 
a very few brief and partial sketches, embraced the history only of 
the war of the Revolution in that particular section of country, and 
had little to do with biograpliy. The design of the author, enlarged 
by reflection and research, now began to comprehend a history of 
the Six Nations, and their wars with the French, Hurons, er Wyan- 
dots, and Adirondacks ; the settlement of the country by the pale 
faces; a history of the French War, so far as that memorable con- 
test was connected with the Indians and colony of New-York ; to- 
gether, or rather blended, with the Lives of Sir William Johnson 
and Joseph Brant. A work of this description seemed to be a desi. 
deratum in American history ; and in the autumn of 1832, prepa- 
rations for the undertaking were resunied, with what success will in 
part be seen in the sequel, 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

In the prosecution of the preliminary labour, efforts were made to 
procure materials from the survivors of the family of Sir William 
Johnson, residing in the Canadas. These eflbrts have thus far been 
attended with but partial success. From one of the grandsons, 
however, Mr. Archibald Johnson, a valuable manuscript volume has 
been procured, containing the private diary of Sir William during 
the Niagara campaign of 1759, in which General Prideaux fell, 
leaving the command of the army to the baronet, whose efforts were 
crowned with brilUant success. From among the papers of the late 
Lieut. Governor of New- York, John Taylor, in possession of his 
daughter, Mrs. Cooper, the author has fortunately obtained the 
manuscript of Sir William's official diary for the years 1757, 1753, 
and a part of the year 1759, together with a small parcel of other 
papers and letters. A few of the baronet's letters and papers are 
also yet extant, in the archives of the state at Albany. All these 
will afford materials for his proposed biography, and for other 
historical illustrations, of high value. Many of the baronet's pa- 
pers were destroyed in the war of the Revolution ; and many others, 
it is ascertained, are only to be found in England — to which 
country a special visit will probably be necessary for their consulta 
tion. 

It will readily be perceived, that the proposed work embraces 
two epochs, between which there is a very natural, and even neces- 
sary, division. The first embraces the early history referred to, with 
a history of the French war, and the country, to the death of Sir 
William Johnson. The second division embraces the life of Jo* 
seph Brant, and the revolutionary, Indian, and Tory wars of the 
northern and western part of the State of New-York ; and although 
anticipated, to a considerable extent, by Mr. Campbell, still the au- 
thor entered the field of investigation with as much spirit as though 
it had not been historically traversed before. In the course of his 
labours he has visited the Mohawk Valley three several times with 
no other object. Ascertaining, moreover, that the venerable Major 
Thomas Sammons, of Johnstown, himself, with his father and two 
brothers, an efficient actor in the scenes of the Revolution, had_for 
many years been collecting historical materials in that region, the 
author applied to him ; and was so fortunate as not only to procure 
his collections, but to induce the old gentleman to re-enter the field 
of inquiry. By his assistance a large body of facts and state- 
ments, taken down in writing during the last thirty years, from the 
lips of surviving officers and soldiers, has been obtained for the 
l>resent work. These documents have added largely to the most 



XXU INTRODUCTION. 

authentic materials of history, enabUng the author to bring out 
many new and interesting facts, and to correct divers errors in the 
works of preceding writers, who have superficially occupied the 
same ground. In addition to these, the iew remaining papers of 
the brave old General Herkimer, who fell at Oriskany in 1777, have 
been placed at the disposal of the author, by his nephew, John 
Herkimer, Esq. Still the work of Mr. Campbell has been found of 
great use, and by consent has been liberally drawn upon. In re- 
gard to some transactions, it was, indeed, almost the only authority ; 
as in the cases of Cherry Valley, some of the transactions in the 
Schoharie Valley, and the exploits of Colonel Harper. 

But this is not all. The author has visited Upper Canada, and 
Montreal and Quebec, in search of materials. Most luckily for the 
cause of historic truth, and the reputation of Joseph Brant, during his 
Canadian researches he became apprised of the fact, that the old 
Mohawk chief, himself a man of a pretty good English education, 
had left a large mass of manuscripts, consisting of his own speeches, 
delivered on many and various occasions, and a great number of 
letters addressed to him ; together with copies of his own letters in 
reply, which he had preserved with equal industry and care. These 
papers were in the keeping of his youngest daughter, a lady of high 
respectability, aboriginal though she be, and eligibly married to 
William Johnson Kerr, Esq. of Wellington Square, Upper Ca- 
nada. It was obvious that those papers must prove a rich mine for 
exploration ; and an application from the author, through his friend 
the Hon. Marshall S. Bidwell, of Toronto, was most readily 
responded to by Mr. and Mrs. Kerr. The papers, it is true, were 
less connected than had been hoped ; and by hundreds of references 
and allusions contained therein, it is obvious that large ^umbers of 
letters, journals, and speeches have been lost — past recovery. Still, 
those which remain have proved of great assistance and rare value. 

To the kindness of Charles A. Clinton, Esq. the author has 
been indebted for access to the private papers of General James 
Clinton, his grandfather. In the composition of one portion of the 
present volume, these papers have been found of vast importance. 
General James CUnton was the father of the late illustrious De Witt 
Clinton, and the brother of Governor George Clinton. He was 
much in command in the northern department, and it was under his 
conduct that the celebrated descent of the Susquehanna was per- 
formed in 1779. His own letters, and those of his correspondents, 
have been of material assistance, not only in relation to that cam- 
paiiin, but upon various other points of history. It was among these 



INTRODUCTION. XXllI 

papers that the letters of Walter N. Butler, respecting the affairs of 
Cherry Valley and Wyoming, were discovered. 

In connexion with the history of the expedition of Sullivan and 
Clinton, just referred to, the author has likewise been favoured with 
themanuscript diary of the venerable Captain Theodosius Fowler 
of this city, who was an active officer during the whole campaign. 
In addition to the valuable memoranda contained in this diary, Capt. 
Fowler has preserved a drawing of the order of march adopted in 
ascending the Chemung, after the junction of the two armies, and 
also a plan of the great battle fought at Newtown by Sullivan, against 
the Indians and Tories commanded by Brant and Sir John Johnson ; 
both of which drawings have been engraved, and will be found in the 
Appendix. 

In the winter of 1775 — '76, an expedition was conducted from 
Albany into Tryon County, for the purpose of disarming the Tories 
and arresting Sir John Johnson, of the particulars of which very 
little has hitherto been known. On application to the family of 
General Schuyler, it was ascertained that his letter books for that 
period were lost. After much inquiry, the necessary documents were 
obtained from Peter Force, Esq. at Washington. 

The author has likewise been indebted to General Peter B. Por- 
TER, of Black Rock, for some valuable information respecting the 
character and some of the actions of Brant. General Porter was 
an early emigrant into the western part of the State, as an agent for 
the great landholder, Oliver Phelps ; and the execution of his duties 
brought him into frequent intercourse with many of the chiefs and 
sachems of the Indians. Among these he became intimately ac- 
quainted with the Mohawk chief, between whom and himself a written 
correspondence was occasionally maintained for several years. 
Unfortunately, however, that correspondence, with other communi- 
cations in his hand-writing, which Gen. Porter had taken some 
pains to preserve, was destroyed by one of the incursions of the 
enemy across the Niagara during the last war. Still, the General 
has supplied the author with several important reminiscences re- 
specting the old chief, and one transaction of thrilling interest, here- 
tofore entirely unknown. 

A friend of the author, a highly respectable and intelligent octo- 
genarian, Samuel Woodruff, Esq., of Windsor, Connecticut, made 
a visit to Brant at the Grand River Settlement, in the summer of 
1797, and remained with him several days, in the enjoyment of 
frequent and full conversations upon many subjects. Mr. Woodruff 
has obligingly furnished a dozen pages or more of instructive notes 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

and memoranda of those conversations, which have been freely used. 
The author is likewise under obligations to Professor Marsh of Bur 
lington College, (Vt.) a connexion, by marriage, of the Wheelock 
family, for several of Brant's original letters ; and also to Tho- 
MAS Morris, Esq., of New-York, who knew the chief well, and was 
several years in correspondence with him, for the same favour. Mr. 
Campbell has, moreover, supplied several documents of value, ob- 
tained by him after the publication of his own book. 

Having, by the acquisition of these and other papers, procured all 
the materials that appeared to remain, or, at least, all that were ac- 
cessible, while the documentary papers for the first division of the 
work were yet very incomplete, the author, like Botta, in his pro- 
mised complete history of Italy, has been compelled to write the lat- 
ter portion of the work first. In the execution of this task, he had 
supposed that the bulk of his labour would cease with the close 
of the war of the Revolution, or at most, that some fifteen or 
twenty pages, sketching rapidly the latter years of the life of 
rhayendanegea, would be all that was necessary. Far otherwise 
was the fact. When the author came to examine the papers of 
Brant, nearly all of which were connected with his career subse- 
quent to that contest, it was found that his life and actions had been 
intimately associated with the Indian and Canadian politics of 
more than twenty years after the treaty of peace ; that a succession 
of Indian Congresses were held by the nations of the great lakes, in 
all which he was one of the master spirits ; that he Avas directly or 
indirectly engaged in the wars between the United States and In- 
dians from 1789 to 1795, during which the bloody campaigns of 
Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne, took place ; and that he acted an 
important part in the affair of the North-Western posts, so long re- 
tained by Great Britain after the treaty of peace. This discovery 
compelled the writer to enter upon a new and altogether unexpected 
field of research. Many difficulties were encountered in the compo- 
sition of this branch of the work, arising from various causes and 
circumstances. The conflicting relations of the United States, the 
Indians, and the Canadians, together with the peculiar and sometimes 
apparently equivocal position in which the Mohawk chief — the subject 
of the biography — stood in regard to them all ; the more than di- 
plomatic caution with which the British officers managed the double 
game which it suited their policy to play so long ; the broken cha- 
racter of the written materials obtained by the author ; and the ne- 
cessity of supplying many links in the chain of events from circum. 
stantial evidence and the unwritten records of Indian diplomacy ; 



INTRODUCTION. ^^^ 

all combined to render the matters to be elucidated, exceedingly 
complicated, intricate, and difficult of clear explanation. But tan. 
sled as was the web, the author has endeavoured to unravel he 
materials, and weave them into a narrative of consistency and truth. 
The result of these labours is embodied in the second part of the 
present work ; and unless the author has over-estimated both the in- 
terest and the importance of this portion of American history, the 
contribution now made will be most acceptable to the reader. 

In addition to the matters here indicated, a pretty full account ot 
the life of Brant, after the close of the Indian wars, is given, by no 
means barren either of incident or anecdote ; and the whole is con. 
eluded by some interesting particulars respecting the family of the 
chief, giving their personal history down to the present day. 

It may possibly be objected by some— those especially who are apt 
to form opinions without much reflection-that the author has in- 
dul^xed rather liberally, not only in the use of public speecli^s and 
documents, but also in the tianscription of private letters. To this 
he would reply, that in his view, his course in that respect adds es- 
sentially to the value of the work; and had it not been for the un- 
expected size to which the volumes have attained, those quotations 
would have been made with still greater freedom. For instance, in 
regard to the interesting proceedings at the last Grand Council of 
the Six Nations held in Albany, it was the original intention of the 
author, long as they are, to insert them in the text; and so the mat- 
ter was at first arranged. The ancient Council Fire of the Six Na- 
tions was always kept burning at Onondaga, the central nation of 
the confederacy. But from the time of the alliance between the Six 
Nations and the English, the fires of the united councils of the two 
powers were kindled at Albany. There, according to the Indian 
figure of speech, the big tree was planted, to which the chain of 
friendship was made fast. But with the close of the Great Council 
held there in the summer of 1775, that fire, which had so long been 
burning, was extinguished. It was the last Indian congress ever 
held at the ancient Dutch capital. It took place at a most import- 
ant crisis, and its proceedings were both of an important and an 
interesting character. • Nor, until now, have those proceedings ever 
been published entire. Indeed, it is believed that no part of them 
was ever in print, until very recently a portion of the manuscript 
was discovered, and inserted in that invaluable collection, the papers 
of the Massachusetts Historical Society. That manuscript, however, 
was very defective and incomplete, and chance alone has enabled 
the author to supply the deficiency. It happened, during one of his 
4 



■X-X-Vl INTRODUCTION. 

visits to the office of the Secretary of State last year, in search of 
documents, that he discovered, among some ancient, loose, and ne- 
glected papers, several sheets of Indian treaty proceedings, which 
were of themselves very imperfect. Supposing, however, that they 
might possibly be of use at some time, he caused them to be tran- 
scribed. Most luckily, on examining them in connexion with the 
publication of the Massachusetts collection, they were found exactly 
to supply the deficiencies of the latter. The result is, that the pa- 
pers appear now for the first time entire ; a portion of them, how. 
ever, from their great length, having been transferred to the Appen- 
dix. 

In regard to the use of speeches and letters, moreover, the author, 
after much consideration, has adopted the plan, as far as possible, of 
allowing the actors in the scenes described to tell their own stories. 
This is a method of historical, and especially of biographical, writing, 
which is coming more into favour than formerly. Marshall adopts it 
to a considerable extent, and very efTectively, in the Life of Washing. 
ton. The instructive and admirable life of that noblest of England's 
naval warriors. Lord ColUngwood, was constructed upon this plan. 
So, also, with Moore's Life of Byron. Taylor's Life of Cowper, one of 
the most useful as well as interesting lives that have been written of 
that most melancholy and yet most delightful of English bards, is com. 
posed almost entirely from the poet's own correspondence. Lock, 
hart's captivating Memoirs of the peerless Scott, now in course of 
publication, have been constructed upon the basis of the mighty 
minstrel's own letters. And it is upon the same principle that the 
author has quoted so largely from the letters and speeches of Joseph 
Brant, and several of his distinguished correspondents ; among whom, 
the reader who has only heard of " the monster Brant" as a savage 
once leading the Mohawks abroad upon scalping parties, will proba- 
bly be surprised to learn, were numbered many gentlemen of rank 
and standing in Church and State, both in England and America. 

An able English writer* has recently opened a very interesting 
discussion, upon the great advantages of thus using letters and ma- 
nuscripts in the composition of history. Speaking of the maxim that 
" history is philosophy teaching by example," he remarks : — " In 
morals, all depends upon circumstances. An example, whether real 
or fictitious, can teach us nothing, if it contains only dry facts. 
The mischief of a great many histories, and those of no mean ac- 
count, is, that they are quite contented with giving an agreeable 

* London duarterly Review, No. cxvi. — Art. on Upcott's Collection of Original 
Letters, Manuscripts, and State Papers. 



INTRODUCTION. XXVll 

narration of naked facts, from which we can gather nothing beyond 
the facts themselves. To the chronicler, the murder of Thomas A' 
Becket is tiie murder of Becket, and it is nothing more. To what 
quarter, then, are we to look for the magic by which we may make 
the dry bones live again ? We answer, unhesitatingly, to the letters 
of the day, if there be any. We say so, not because they will con- 
tain any elaborate description of the feelings, or expos^ of the views, 
of the age to which they belong, but because they must be written, 
to a great extent, in the spirit of the age in which their writers lived. 
The events of the day — the writers' feelings toward their neighbours, 
and their neighbours' feelings toward them — their comments on the 
ordinary course of things around them ; these are precious records 
for all who wish to study mankind and morals in history ; for these 
things, and these alone, can enable us fully to appreciate the tem- 
per and spirit in which the acts commemorated in history were done. 
* * * * It is very true that some historians profess to use letters, 
and that some have actually used them in a small degree; but, con- 
sidering their great value, they have never been used as they de- 
served ; and, in very many cases, their existence seems to be hardly 
known to historians themselves." It is in accordance with these 
views, that letters and speeches have been so copiously used in the 
present work ; although it is not supposed that the correspondence 
of a burly chieftain of the forest, or the bluif partisan officers of a 
wilderness border, can in any respect be compared with Cowper's 
polished models of epistolary writing, or with those of Scott or 
Byron, or those of Lady Mary Wortley Montague, of Peter of Blois 
or John of Salisbury. They are nevertheless valuable in themselves, 
both as historical records and as illustrations of character. Of 
the speeches, and sketches of speeches, embodied in tliis work, to- 
gether with the narratives given of the occasions which called them 
forth, it may be added that they are all memorials of a people, — once 
a noble race — numerous and powerful — now fast disappearing from 
the face of the earth — a beautiful portion of the earth — once their 
own ! These memorials it was one of the chief purposes of the au- 
thor to gather up and preserve. 

The plan of the work, especially of the first and larger portion of 
it, may perhaps in some respects disappoint the reader, thougii, it is 
hoped, not unfavourably. It has been the object of the author to ren- 
der it not only a local, but, to a certain extent, a brief general his. 
tory of the VV^ar of the Revolution. Thus, while it is a particular 
history, ample in its details, of the belligerent events occurring at 
the west of Albany, the author has from time to time introduced 



INTKODUCTION. 



brief sketches of contemporaneous events occurring in other parts of 
the country. By this means, bird's-eye glimpses have been present, 
ed, for the most part in the proper order of time, of all the principal 
military operations of the whole contest. In order, moreover, to 
the better understanding of the incipient revolutionary movements 
in the Mohawk country, (then Tryon County,) a rapid view is given 
of the same description of movements elsewhere. The proceedings 
of that county were, of course, connected with, and dependent upon, 
those of New England, especially of Boston — the head, and heart, and 
soul of the rebellion, in its origin and its earlier stages. Hence a 
summary review of the measures directly, though by degrees, lead- 
ing to the revolt of the Colonies, has not been deemed out of place, 
in its proper chronological position. And as all the Indian history 
of the Revolutionary war at the north, the west, and the south, has 
been written out in full, by the incidental sketches of other events 
and campaigns marking the contest, the work may be considered in 
the three-fold view of local, general, and biographical ; the whole 
somewhat relieved, from time to time, if not enlivened, by individual 
narratives — tales of captivity and sutfering — of daring adventures 
and bold exploits. 

Several weeks after the preceding pages had been stereotyped, 
but before any considerable progress had been made in printing the 
body of the work, the author was so fortunate as to obtain a large 
accession of valuable materials from General Peter Gansevoort, 
of Albany, embracing the extensive correspondence of his father, 
the late General Gansevoort, better known in history as " the hero 
of Fort Stanwix." These papers, embracing those captured by him 
from the British General St. Leger, have been found of great im- 
portance in the progress of the work, and will add materially to its 
completeness and its value. 

A few words respecting the embellishments of these volumes. The 
frontispiece of each volume presents an elegantly engraved portrait 
of the brave and wary Mohawk, who forms the principal biographi- 
cal figure of the work, taken at different periods of his life. The 
Chief sat for his picture several times in England ; once, at the re- 
quest of Boswell, in 1776, but to what artist is not mentioned. 
He likewise sat, during the same visit, to the celebrated portrait and 
historical painter, George Romney, for the Earl of Warwick. He 
was again painted in England, in 1786, for the Duke of Northumber- 
land ; and a fourth time, during the same visit, in order to present 
his likeness in miniature to his eldest daughter. His last sitting 
was to the late Mr. Ezra Ames of Albany, at the request of the 



INTRODUCTION. Xxix 

late John Caldwell, Esq. of that city. This was about the year 
1805, and the likeness is pronounced the best ever taken of Captain 
Brant. The author's valued friend Catlin has made a very faith- 
ful copy of this portrait, which has been beautifully engraved by 
Mr. A. Dick, a well-known and skilful artist of New-York. 
This picture, as latest in the order of time, will be found at the head 
of the second volume. The inscription of this plate is a fac 
simile of the old chief's signature, from a letter written by him to 
the Duke of Northumberland not long before his death. The au 
thor has another picture of the elder Brant, of which he may be 
pardoned for giving some account. Being at Catskill, in the Sum- 
mer of 1833, the author discovered, in the possession of his friend, 
Mr. Van Bekgkn, some odd volumes of the London Magazine of 
1776, in one of which he accidentally found an engraving of Brant, 
from the portrait taken for Boswell, in the gala costume of the 
Chief as he appeared at Court. The countenance of this picture, 
however, was dull, and comparatively unmeaning. On his visit to 
Upper Canada, in September, 1836, the chieftain's daughter, Mrs. 
Kerr, showed him a head of her father in a gold locket, which was 
full of character and energy — with an eye like the eagle's. Having 
procured this locket, and placed it, together with the engraving referred 
to, in the hands of Mr. N. Rogers, that eminent artist has produced 
a very spirited and beautiful picture, which was painted expressly 
to be engraved for this work. Before it was placed in the hands of the 
artist, however, Mr. Chapman, an artist of New- York, returning 
from a visit to England, brought with him a superb print of Brant, 
taken from the Earl of Warwick's picture by Roniney. As this print 
not only presents more of the figure of the chief than either of the 
others, and possesses withal more character and spirit, it has been 
adopted for the work in lieu of that painted by Mr. Rogers. The 
engraving has also been well executed by Dick, and stands in 
front of the first volume. The picture bv Catlin is the war-chief of 
the forest in the full maturity of years. The other is the Indian cour- 
tier in London. This first volume also contains a finely engraved 
portrait of General Gansevoort, bv Prudhomme, from a portrait by 
Stuart. It is a fine specimen of the gentleman of the Revolutiona- 
ry era. 

But these are not all the pictorial illustrations. In the completion 
of the life of Brant, it has been deemed proper to add some account 
of his family subsequent to his decease. The law of official inherit- 
ance among the Six Nations will be found peculiar to that people, 
the descent being through the female line. Joseph Brant was him- 



INTRODUCTIO:^. 



self the principal War-chief of the Six Nations ; and his third wife, 
who at his decease was left a young widow, was, in her own right, 
the representative of the sovereignty of the Confederacy, in whom 
alone was vested the power of naming, from among her own children, 
or, in default of a child of her own, from the next of kin, a principal 
civil and military chief. On the death of her husband, therefore, 
she selected as his successor her youngest son, John Brant, then a 
lad of seven years old. He grew up a noble fellow, both in courage 
and character, as the reader will ascertain before he closes the se- 
cond volume. During the author's visit to the Brant House in 
Upper Canada, he saw a portrait of the young chief, then recently 
deceased, which, though painted by a country artist, and, as a whole, 
a very bad picture, was nevertheless pronounced by Mr. and Mrs. 
Kerr to be very correct, so far as the figure and likeness were con- 
cerned. Obtaining this portrait from Canada last Autumn, it was 
placed in the hands of Mr. Hoxie, who has produced the excellent 
picture which has been well engraved by Mr. Parker, and will be 
found in the second volume. As the young chief went first upon 
the war-path in the Niagara campaigns of 1812 — 15, the idea of 
embodying a section of the great cataract in the back-ground of the 
picture was exceedingly appropriate. 

As the name of the celebrated Red Jacket appears frequently in 
the second volume, a likeness of him has been added, from a paint- 
ing by Weir, beautifully engraved by Ha.tch. In addition to all 
which is the finely engraved title-page, designed, engraved, and 
presented to the author, by his estimable friend Mr. A. Rawuon. 

In addition to these illustrations, another has been added, the 
character of which is striking and its history curious. It is the 
sketch of a scene at a conference with the Indians at Buffalo Creek, 
in the year 1793, held by Beverley Randolph, General Benjamin 
Lincoln, and Colonel Timothy Pickering, in the presence of a num. 
ber of the British officers then stationed upon that frontier. Messrs. 
Randolph, Lincoln, and Pickering were on a pacific mission, ac- 
companied, at the request of the Indians, by a number of Quakers. 
The sketch of that conference was drawn by a British officer, Col. 
Pilkington, and taken to Europe. In 1819 it was presented to an 
American gentleman of the name of Henry, at Gibraltar, and by 
him given to the Massachusetts Historical Society. The sketch 
is drawn with the taste and science of a master of the art ; the 
grouping is fine, and the likenesses are excellent. As the history of 
the mission of those gentleman forms an interesting chapter in the 



INTKODUCTIOiV. XXXI 

present work, this sketch has been deemed an appropriate accompa 
niment. 

In addition to the acknowledgments already made in the preced- 
ing pages, the author is under obligations, to a greater or less ex- 
tent, to many other individuals, for hints, suggestions, and the col. 
lection of materials. Among these he takes pleasure in naming the 
Hon. Lewis Cass, late Secretary of War, and now Envoy Extraor 
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near the Court of St. Cloud ; 
General Dix, Secretary of the State of New-York, and Mr. Archi- 
bald Campbell, his deputy ; General Morgan Lewis ; Major 
James Cochran, of Oswego, and also his Lady, who was the young- 
est daughter of General Schuyler ; Major William Popham, who 
was an aid-de-camp to General James Clinton ; Samuel S. Lush, 
Esq., and S. De Witt Bloodgood, Esq. of Albany ; James D. Be- 
Mis, Esq. of Canandaigua; Lauren Ford and George H. Feeter, 
Esquires, of Little Falls ; Giles F. Yates, Esq. of Schenectady ; 
William Forsvth, Esq. of Quebec ; and the Rev. Mr. Lape, 
formerly of Johnstown, and now of Athens, N. Y. 

With these preliminary explanations, the work is committed to the 
public, in the belief that, although it might, of course, have been 
better executed by an abler hand with a mind less distracted by 
other pressing and important duties, it will, nevertheless, be found a 
substantial addition to the stock of American history. 

WILLIAM L. STONE. 

New-York, March, 1838. 



LIFE OF BRANT 



LIFE 

OP 

JOSEPH BRANT— THAYENDANEGEA, &c. 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth and parentage — Discussion of the doubts cast upon his origin — Visit of Mo- 
hawk chiefs to Glueen Anne — Evidence of Brant's descent from one of those — ■ 
Digression from the main subject, and Extracts from the private and official jour- 
nals of Sir William Johnson— Connexion between Sir William and the family of 
Brant — Incidental references to the old French war — Illustrations of Indian pro- 
ceedings, speeches, &c. — Brant's parentage satisfactorily established — Takes 
the field in the Campaign of Lake George (1765.) — Is engaged at the conquest 
of Niagara (1759.) — Efforts of Sir William Johnson to civilize the Indians — Brant 
is sent, with other Indian youths, to the Moor Charity School, at Lebanon — Leaves 
school — Anecdote — Is engaged on public business by Sir William — As an Inter- 
preter for the Missionaries — Again takes the field, in the wars against Pontiac — 
Intended massacre at Detroit — Ultimate overthrow of Pontiac — First marriage of 
Brant — Entertains the Missionaries — Again employed on public business — Death 
of his wife — Engages with Mr. Stewart in translating the Scriptures — Marries 
again — Has serious religious impressions — Selects a bosom friend and confidant, 
after the Indian custom — Death of his friend — His grief, and refusal to choose 
another friend. 

The birth and parentage of Joseph Brant, or, more cor- 
rectly, of Thayendanegea — for such was his real name — have 
been involved in uncertainty, by the conflicting- accounts that 
have been published concerning him. The Indians have no 
herald's college in which the lineage of their great men can be 
traced, or parish registers of marriages and births, by which a 
son can ascertain his paternity. Ancestral glory and shame 
are therefore only reflected darkly through the dim twilight of 
tradition. By some authors, Thayendanegea has been called 
a half-breed. By others he has been pronotmced a Shawanese 
by parentage, and only a Mohawk by adoption. Some histo- 
rians have spoken of him as a son of Sir William Johnson ; * 

* Several authors have suggested that Brant was the son of the Baronet. Drake, 
in his useful compilation, "The Book of the Indians," states that he had been so 
informed by no less an authority than Jared Sparks. Drake himself calls him an 
Onondaga of the Mohawk Tribe I 



2 LIFE OF BRANT. [1742 

while others again have allowed him the honour of Mohawk 
blood, but denied that he was descended from a chief. 

Nearly twenty years ago, a brief account of the life and cha- 
racter of this remarkable man was published in the Christian 
Recorder, at Kingston, in the province of Upper Canada. In 
that memoir it was stated that Thayendanegea was born on the 
banks of the Ohio, whither his parents had emigrated fromtlie 
valley of the Mohawk, and where they are said to have 
sojourned several years. " His mother at length returned with 
" two children — Mary, who lived with Sir William Johnson, and 
" Joseph, the subject of this memoir. Nothing was known of 
" Brant's father among the Mohawks. Soon after the return of 
" this family to Canajoharie, the mother married a respectable 
"Indian called Carrihogo, or News-Carrier, whose Christian 
" name was Barnet or Bernard ; but, by way of contraction, he 
" went by the name of Brant." Hence it is argued that the lad, 
who was in future to become not only a distinguished war-chief, 
but a statesman, and the associate of the chivalry and nobility 
of England, having thus been introduced into the family of that 
name, was first known by the distinctive appellation of 
" Brant's Joseph" and in process of time, by inversion, " Jo- 
seph Brant." * 

There is an approximation to the truth in this relation, and 
it is in part sustained by the existing family tradition. The 
facts are these : the Six Nations had carried their arms far to 
the west and south, and the whole country south of the lakes 
was claimed by them, to a certain extent of supervisory juris- 
diction, by the right of conquest. To the Ohio and Sandusky 
country they asserted a stronger and more peremptory claim, 
extending to the right of soil — at least on the lake shore as far 
as Presque Isle. From their associations in that country, it 
had become usual among the Six Nations, especially the Mo- 
hawks, to make temporary removals to the west during the 
hunting seasons, and one or more of those families would fre- 

* Christian Register, 1819, Vol. I. No. 3, published at Kingston, (U. C.) and 
edited by the Rev. Doctor, now the Honourable and Venerable Archdeacon Strachan, 
of Toronto. The sketches referred to were written by Dr. Strachan, upon infor- 
mation received by him many years before, from the Rev. Dr. Stewart, formerly a 
missionary m the Mohawk Valley, and father of the present Archdeacon Stewart 
of Kingston. 



1742.] BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. 3 

quently remain abroad, among the Miamis, the Hurons, and 
Wyandots, for a longer or shorter period, as they chose. One 
of the consequences of this intercommunication, was the nu- 
merous family alhances existing between the Six Nations and 
others at the west — the Wyandots, in particular. 

It was while his parents were abroad upon one of those 
hunting excursions, that Thayendanegea was born, in the year 
1742, on the banks of the Ohio. The home of his family was 
at the Canajoharie Castle — the central of the three Castles of 
the Mohawks, in their native valley. His father's name was 
Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, a full-blooded Mohawk of the Wolf 
Tribe.* Thayendanegea was very young when his father 
died. His mother married a second time to a Mohawk ; and 
the family tradition at present, is, that the name of Brant was 
acquired in the manner assumed by the publication already 
cited. There is reason to doubt the accuracy of this tradition, 
however, since it is believed that there was an Indian family, 
of some consequence and extent, bearing the English name of 
Brant. Indeed, from the extracts presently to be introduced 
from the recently discovered manuscripts of Sir William John- 
son, it may be questioned whether Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, 
and an old chief, called by Sir William sometimes Brant, and 
at others Kickus Brant, were not one and the same person. 

The denial that he was a born chief, is likewise believed to 
be incorrect. It is very true, that among the Six Nations, 
chieftainship was not necessarily obtained by inheritance. But 
in regard to Thayendanegea, there is no doubt that he was of 
noble blood. The London Magazine for July, 1776, contains 
a sketch of him, probably furnished by Bos well, with whom he 
was intimate during his first visit to England in 1775 — '76. 
In that account it is afhrraed as a fact without question, that 
he was the grandson of one of the five sachems who visited 
England, and excited so much attention in the British capital, 
in 1710, during the reign of Q,ueen Anne. Of those chiefs, 
two were of the Muhhekaneew, or River Indians, and three 

* Each of the orighial Five Nations was divided into three tribes — the Tortoise, 
the Bear, and the Wolf. The subject of the present memoir was of the latter. Ac- 
cording to David Cusick, a Tuscarora, who has written a tract respecting the history 
of the ancient Five Nations, the laws of the confederation required that the Oiionda- 
gas should provide the King, and the Mohiiwks a great War-Chiof. 



4 LIFE OF BRANT. [1742. 

were Mohawks — one of whom was chief of the Canajoharie 
clan.* Thayendanegea was of the latter clan ; and as there is 
reason to believe that his father was a sachem, there can be 
little doubt of the correctness of the London publication, in 
claiming for him direct descent from the Canajoharie chief who 
visited the British court at the time above mentioned. But 
there is other evidence to sustain the assumption. In the Life 
of the first President Wheelock, by the Rev. Messrs. M'Clure 
and Parish, it is asserted that the father of Joseph Brant " was 
" sachem of the Mohawks, after the death of the famous King 
" Hendrick." The intimacy for a long time existing between 
the family of Brant and the Wheelocks, father and sons, ren- 
ders this authority, in the absence of unwritten testimony still 
more authentic, very good ; and as Hendrick fell in 1755, when 
Thayendanegea was thirteen years of age, the tradition of the 
early death of his father, and his consequent assumption of a 
new name, is essentially weakened. Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, 
who in early life was a resident of Albany, and intimately ac- 
quainted with the domestic relations of Sir William Johnson, 
speaks of the sister of young Thayendanegea, who was inti- 
mately associated in the family of the Baronet, as "the daugh- 
ter of a sachem."! ^ 
In the manuscript diary of Sir William Johnson, just referred 
to, and of which more particular mention has been made in the 
Introduction, the Baronet often had occasion to speak of Brant, 
of Canajoharie. Sometimes he was called " Nickus Brant," 

* These five sachems, or Indian kings, as they were called, were taken to Eng- 
land by Colonel Schuyler. Their arrival in London created a great sensation, not 
only in the capital, but throughout the kingdom. The populace followed them 
wherever they went. The Court was at that time in mourning for the death of the 
Prince of Denmark, and the chiefs were dressed in black under-clothcs, after the En- 
glish manner ; but, instead of a blanket, they had each a scarlet-ingrain cloth man- 
tle, edged with gold, thrown over all their other clothes. This dress was directed by 
the dressers of the play-house, and given by the Clueen. A more than ordinary so- 
lemnity attended the audience they had of her Majesty. They were conducted to 
St. James's in two coaches by Sir Charles Cottcrel, and introduced to the royal pre- 
sence by the Duke of Shrewsbury, then Lord Chamberlain. [Smith's History.] 
Oldmixon has preserved the speech delivered by them on the occasion, and several 
historians record the visit. Sir Richard Steele mentions these chiefs in the Tatler of 
May 13, 1710, They were also made the subject of a number of the Spectator, by 
Addison. 

f "Memoirs of an American Lady," chap, xxxi.x. 



1742.] SIR Av. Johnson's diary. 5 

and at others Aroghyadagha — but most frequently " Old 
Nickus," or " Old Brant." As these private journals of Sir 
William have never seen the light, and are curious in them- 
selves, a few extracts will probably not be unacceptable to the 
reader — serving, as they will, not only to illustrate the present 
history, but also the character of the intercourse and relations 
existing between the English and the Indians, under the ad- 
ministration of the Indian department by that distinguished 
officer. A more just idea of the character and importance of 
the chieftain's family, may likewise be derived from a perusal 
of the extracts proposed to be given, exhibiting, as they do, 
something of the intercourse maintained between the families 
of the white and the red warriors. 

It must be borne in mind, that the diary to which we are 
referring, was written in the years 1757, '58, and '59 — in the 
midst of the old French war, ending by the conquest of Canada, 
in 1763. An expedition against that colony, under the con- 
duct of Lord Loudoun, projected early in the former year, had 
been abandoned in consequence of his Lordship's inability to 
bring a sufficient number of troops into the field, to meet the 
heavy reinforcements sent over that year from France. Mean- 
time the Marquis de Montcalm, with an army of 9000 men, had 
advanced through Lake George, and carried Fort William 
Henry — the siege of which was followed by a frightful massa- 
cre — and was then threatening Fort Edward and the settle- 
ments on the Hudson ; while at the west, the French, with 
their Indian allies, were continually threatening an invasion by 
the way of Oswego ; and by their scouts and scalping parties, 
were vexing the German settlements on the Upper Mohawk, 
and continually harassing the Six Nations — or Iroquois — ever 
the objects of French hostility. In this state of things, it 
required the utmost activity on the part of Sir William John- 
son, his officers and Indian allies, to keep themselves well in- 
formed as to the actual or intended movements of their subtle 
enemies. There was therefore constant employment, until the 
close of the year, for Indian scouts and messengers, throughout 
the whole wilderness country from Lake Champlain to Niagara, 
and Fort Du Q,uesne, on the Ohio. With this explanation we 
proceed to the diary : 



6 LIFE OP BRANT. [1742. 

" 1757. — Nov. 4. Canadiorha, alias Nickiis Brant's son, who 
was in quest after De Couagne as far as Oneida, came here 
(Fort Johnson), and said he inquired what news was stirring 
among the Oneidas. One of the sachems told him the same 
piece of news Ogaghte brought some days since, about the 
French intending to stop the powder from the Six Nations, — 
building a fort near Chennessio, &.c. — that it made a great 
noise among the nations, and gave them uneasiness ; where- 
fore they were assembling often at Chennessio, and keeping 
(holding) often great councils among themselves how to act in 
this affair of last moment. He further was told at Oneida, that 
but two days ago the Six Nations received a message from the 
Twightwees (Miamies), letting their brethren of the Six Nations 
know that they had heard of the insolent attempt of the French, 
of destroying the Six Nations ; and that after the many provo- 
cations the French gave them, in stirring them up to war 
against the English, &c. they were now resolved to turn the 
hatchet against the French, and resolved to pass the Six Na- 
tions' country in their way to war. They expected not to be 
delayed, but to be immediately joined by the warriors of the 
Six Nations, and to proceed toward Canada. He also said he 
heard the foreign (distant) nations complain very much for 
want of trade with the English ; and Tahaddy, a Chenundidie 
chief, said that he was stopped by the French to sell his fur at 
Cataraghqui, and that he got not the half quantity of goods 
that he could (have) got from the English, and that he intended 
to keep his furs for the future, and in the Spring to go with 
them to Albany, and at the same time to intercede with Sir 
William in behalf of all the western nations, to grant them a 
trade again — and further Canadiorha said not." 

In the next extract it will be seen that Sir William speaks of 
Brant as a " sachem." Of course it could be none other than 
the elder, or " Old Brant," at the time ; as Joseph was not 
then more than sixteen years old. 

ii i75S— April I5th. Sir William set out for Canajoharie, 
and took with him Captains Johnson,* Fonda, and Jacobus 

• Guy Joluison, his son-in-law. 



1742.] SIR WM. Johnson's diary. 7 

Clement, in order to settle some matters with the Indians of 
that castle. He arrived that night.* 

" April 16th. He delivered a string of wampum to Brant 
and Paulus, two sachems, desiring them to call all their people 
out of the woods to attend a meeting he proposed the next day 
with them, at which he should let them know General Aber- 
crombie's pleasure, and his own inclination and advice — also 
what passed between him and the several nations, who of late 
had had several meetings with him." 

Preparations were now making for a more formidable and 
vigorous campaign, under General Abercrombie, who had suc- 
ceeded Lord Loudoun. His object was an attack upon Ticon- 
deroga, and, if successful, a descent upon Crown Point and 
Montreal. The French in Canada were of course making 
corresponding exertions to repel the expected invasion. With 
a view of creating a diversion, by annoying the colony of New- 
York from another quarter, they were said to be preparing to 
invade the Mohawk Valley, by the way of Oswego and Fort 
Stanwix. A party of their Indians had made a bold irruption, 
toward the close of April, upon Burnetsfield, on the south side 
of the Mohawk, and destroyed the entire settlement — massacre- 
ing men, women, and children— thirty-three in number — being 
the whole population save two persons. There had likewise 
been outrages at the German Flatts, where several Indians had 
been killed by the inhabitants. The mihtia were promptly 
ordered into the field, to rendezvous at Canajoharie, whither Sir 
William repaired on the 4th of May, to lead them against the 
enemy — reported on the same day to be in force at the great 
carrying place (Fort Stanwix.) 

Meantime it was well known that the French had left no 
means untried, to seduce the five westernmost tribes of the Six 
Nations firom their allegiance to the English. They had long 
had their Jesuit priests among the Oneidas. Onondagas, (kc ; 
and a variety of circumstances had occurred to induce the Mo- 
hawks to distrust their brethren of the other tribes. Under 
these circumstances, Sir William received the invitation thus 
noted in his diary : — 

* Tliis entry is not in the hand- writing of Sir William, but of a certain " P. W." 
who was liis private secretary, 

c 



8 



LIFE OF BRANT. [1742. 



" April Ath. Sir William having had an invitation from 
the Six Nations to attend a grand meeting to be held at Onon- 
daga within a few days hence, where he intends to proceed, in 
case the last alarm should prove groundless." 

The Baronet arrived at Canajoharie in the evening, and at- 
tended a dance of the young warriors, having the scalp of one 
of the hostile Indians engaged in the recent irruption, who had 
been killed at the German Flatts. He is thus spoken of in the 
diary — in the hand-writing of Sir William's secretary. 

" The body of Otqueandageghte, an Onondaga warrior, who 
lived for some years at 'Swegachy, and formerly a mate of Sir 
William's, was found. His name was engraved on the handle 
(of his knife), and how often he had been to war, together with 
this inscription — ' Otqueandageghte le Camera de Jeanson.^ " 

Sir William was highly respected by the Six Nations, and 
by the Mohawks in particular was greatly beloved. This af- 
fection was not only manifested by their actions, but often in 
their speeches, at their councils, and in their concern for his 
welfare when sick, and for his safety when in the field.* Such 
being their feelings toward the Baronet, they were reluctant, 
under existing circumstances, to allow him to place himself in 
the power of the Indians about to assemble at the Great Coun- 
cil Fire at Onondaga. They were likewise apprehensive that 
he might incur danger from some of the scalping parties of the 
French. These explanations will render the following extracts 
from the diary intelligible : — 

" Mai/ 5th. Sir WilUam having no further accounts of the 
enemy's appearance, sent a scout of two Mohawks, two Cana- 
joharies, and a white man, to go as far as Wood Creek and the 
Oneida Lake, in order to obtain the certainty of the alarm. 



* To this point, at the close of a council, Sir William says — " When I drank to 
them at parting, they in return drank my health, and thanked God I had recovered 
my late illness. They then all said that it was happy I did not die then ; for, said 
they, ' had you died, we and the English would get by the ears very soon, we see ; 
and we fear it will be the case when you die or leave us.' " Again, at another coun- 
cil the chiefs commenced their speech: — 

"Brother, We are extremely glad to see you so well recovered of your late very 
dangerous illness, and thank the Great Spirit above for it. Had you been taken 
away from us that time, our case would have been melancholy, and our situation 
extremely precarious. It will be so, we fear, whenever we lose you." 

Diary, Jan. 14—19, 1758. 



1742.] SIR WM. Johnson's diary. 9 

About noon all the women of the chief men of this castle met 
at Sir William's lodging, and brought with them several of the 
sachems, who acquainted Sir William that they had something 
to say to him in the name of their chief women." 

" Old Nickus (Brant) being appointed speaker, opened his dis- 
course with condoling with Sir William for the losses his peo- 
ple had sustained, and then proceeded : — 

"Brother, we understand you intend to go to a meeting to 
Onondaga ; we can't help speaking with this belt of wampum to 
you, and giving our sentiments on your intended journey. 
In the first place we think it quite contrary to the customs of 
any Governors or Superintendent of Indian affairs being called 
to Onondaga upon public business, as the council fire which 
burns there serves only for private consultations of the con- 
federacy ; and when matters are concluded and resolved upon 
there, the confederacy are to set out for the great fire place 
which is at your house, and there deliver their conclusion. 
In the next place we are almost convinced that the invitation 
is illegal, and not agreed upon or desired by the confederacy, 
but only the Qneidas — which gives us the more reason to be 
uneasy about your going, as it looks very suspicious. Did not 
they tell you, when they invited you, the road of friendship was 
clear, and every obstacle removed that was in before ? They 
scarce uttered it, and the cruelties were committed at the Ger- 
man Flatts. where the remainder of our poor brethren were 
butchered by the enemy's Indians. Is this a clear road of peace 
and friendship ? Would not you be obliged to wade all the 
way in the blood of the poor innocent men, women, and chil- 
dren who were murdered after being taken ? 

" Brother, by this belt of wampum, we, the women, sur- 
round and hang about you hke little children, who are crying 
at their parents' going from them, for fear of their never return- 
ing again to give them suck ; and we earnestly beg you will 
give ear to our request, and desist from your journey. We flat- 
ter ourselves you will look upon this our speech, and take the 
same notice of it as all our men do, who, when they are ad- 
dressed by the women, and desired to desist from any rash en- 
terprise, they immediately give way, when, before, every body 
else tried to dissuade them from it, and could not prevail." 

Gave the Bell. 



10 LIFE OF BRANT. [1742. 

'•' Canajoharie, May 7th. This afternoon Sir William had 
a meeting with the chief women of this castle, and returned 
them thanks for their condolence of the 5th instant. At the 
same time he condoled with them for the loss of one of the tribe 
of the Bear, that belonged to the chief of that tribe, with a 
Stroud blanket, a shirt, and stockings." 

A string of Wamjnim. 

" Sir William told them that he would answer their speech 
concerning his journey, when the messengers who had gone 
to Oneida came back. He also made private presents to a few 
of the head women of each tribe, with a blanket and shirt 
each." 

" May 10th. This afternoon Sir William returned his an- 
swer to the speech of the chief women of this castle, made to 
him on the 5th instant, which is as follows : — 

'•Dyattego, your tender and afiectionate speech, made some 
days ago, I have considered, and thereupon have dispatched 
messengers to Oneida, in order to inquire how things stand 
there after what happened at the German Flatts, and whether 
my presence at the meeting would be still necessary. These 
messengers are returned, and I find by them that the sachems 
of Oneida likewise disapprove my proceeding any farther, for 
sundry reasons they give in their reply. Wherefore I shall 
comply with your request to return, and heartily thank you for 
the great tenderness and love expressed forme in your speech." 

Returned their Belt. 

The next entry in which the name of Nickus Brant occurs, 
is under date of November 18th, 1758 — in which he is called 
the chief sachem of Canajoharie. He must also have been a 
man of trust and consequence, as he had then just returned 
from an important mission to a great Indian council in Penn- 
sylvania. 

Fort Johnson, Nov. 18, 1758. Nickus, chief sachem of Ca- 
najoharie, arrived from the meeting at Easton, and in the pre- 
sence of the Belt, a Seneca chief, several more of said nation, 
the Red Head, and some more Onondagoes, showed me all the 
belts which passed between the Governors of Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey, and thes^several nations of Indians there assembled, 
with the purport of them, which I need not insert here." 

An important land negotiation had taken place at the coun- 



1742.] SIR WM. Johnson's diary. 11 

cil at Easton, by which the agents of Penn had agreed to re- 
lease to the Six Nations, certain territories purchased of them 
at Albany in 1 754— but which sale gave dissatisfaction to the 
tribes. Nickus desired Sir Wilham to communicate this infor- 
mation to the Indians, on their return from hunting ; and Sir 
Wilham enjoined it upon Nickus to put an end to the irregu- 
larities of his tribe, and the mischief they were doing to the 
properly ; as " such barbarism must be productive of very fatal 
consequences." 

The Diary says :— " He told me it was with the utmost con- 
cern he had heard what I had told him, and assured me he 
would endeavour all in his power to restrain them, and try to 
bring them to proper order ; but doubted of success while there 
was such a flood of rum in the country, which alone occa- 
sioned them to commit such irregularities, and which, if not 
prevented, must inevitably destroy them all in a little time."* 

On the 18th of January, 1 759, Sir William held a conference 
at Canajoharie Castle with the Mohawk and Seneca chiefs. 
After condoling with them for their losses by sickness, with 
three strings of wampum, and for their losses by the war with 
a like number of strings, he addressed them as follows : — 

"Brethren op the two Mohawk Castles and Sene- 
gas : I take the first opportunity of acquainting you that His 
Majesty has been pleased to appoint Lieutenant General Am- 
herst, Commander in Chief of all his forces in North America, 
in the room of Lieutenant General Abercrombie, who is called 
home. Also that the General has, by letter, desired I would 
use my utmost endeavours to get as great a number of our 
brethren, the Six Nations, to join him early next Spring against 
our common enemy, as I possibly can. This I shall endeavour 
to do, and would be glad of your advice and assistance therein, 
which by this belt of wampum I desire you, as our steady 
friends, will afford me. ^ Belt. 

" Brethren : As you are all acquainted with the late cruel 
and unprecedented murder of John M'Michael, one of our peo- 

* The introduction and pernicious effects of ardent spirits among the Indians were 
a frequent subject of complaint, even at that early day, of which Sir William's 
memoranda, and the records of Indian speeches to him, afford repeated proofs. 



12 LIFE OF BRANT. [1742. 

pie, by a Cayouga* Indian near Fort Stanwix, whom he em- 
ployed to escort him to Fort Herkimer, 1 shall not repeat the 
disagreeable circumstances to you, as I am sensible it affects 
you as well as me. I would now only ask your opinion what 
are the proper steps to be taken in the aflair, as it will always 
have great weight with me. Three Strings. 

'' Brethren : I lately received these strings of wampum 
from the Oneidas by Captain Fonda, by which they say I am 
invited to a meeting proposed to be held soon at Onondaga, 
where you are also desired to attend. I am ready and willing 
to go if you think it will be for the good of the service. At 
the same time I must observe to you, that I think it an unpre- 
cedented manner of inviting either you or me, without some 
of the Onondagas coming down with it as usual. I neverthe- 
less submit to your judgment, as being better acquainted with 
their forms, and expect you will give it me, as well as your 
opinion of the proper steps for me to take, in order to get what 
prisoners of ours may be among the nations." 

Three Strings. 

" Do. Die. Tarrawarriax, and another Seneca sachem, came 
to Sir William, at Branfs house, and told him, &:c. 

" January 19. The sachems, &c. being met at their coun- 
cil room, sent to acquaint Sir William that they were ready to 
answer to what he the day before had laid before them. On 
which he, with the same gentlemen who attended him yester- 
day, went to the meeting, when Aroghyadecka, alias Old 
Brant, chief of the Canajoharies, spoke as follows : — 

"Brother WARRAGHiYAGEYt — We are much obliged to 
you for giving us so timely notice of the General's desire and 
intentions, and we hope and wish that he may be ready to 
take the field very early, which in our opinion is what should 
always be done. You may depend upon our attachment and 
assistance ; being determined, as we declared to you at the be- 
ginning of this war, to stand or fall with you. And as you 
desired our opinion with regard to the Six Nations, we have 
considered of it, and think it best that you call their sachems, 

♦ Always spelt thus by Sir William Johnson, 

t The name which the Indians had conferred upon Sir William, and by which 
he was almost invariably addressed. 



1742.] SIR WM. Johnson's diary. 13 

chief warriors, and leading women, down to your house as soon 
as may be, where we shall be ready to attend and assist you 
all in our power. Returned the Belt. 

" Brother : The late murder of one of our brethren near 
the carrying place, by one of the Upper nations in the French 
mterest, gives us great concern, and think he ought to be se- 
verely punished for it. But as we hope the Six Nations may 
now act a better part than they have hitherto, we would advise 
you not to say any thing about it until they come to the meet- 
ing at your house, and then we think the milder you speak to 
them, the better, at this time. And this is our opinion. 

Returned three Strings. 

" Brother : As for the strings of wampum lately sent by 
the Oneidas, to invite you and us to a meeting at Onondaga, 
we think with you that it was not according to our ancient and 
usual custom, nor was it even a proper invitation. We are of 
opinion that your inviting them all to your house is much bet- 
ter and more in character. Wherefore we would be very glad 
if you would give them an invitation, and at the same time to 
send some strmgs of wampum, desiring they would bring what 
prisoners of our brethren may be among them. 

Three Strings of Wampum. 

'• Brother : We return you our hearty thanks for the con- 
fidence you repose in us, and be assured we shall ever study 
to act so as to continue your good opinion of us. We are also 
thankful to you for the good news you yesterday told us, and 
we heartily congratulate you thereon, and hope further success 
may attend the King's arms." 

The course suggested by the chiefs was adopted by Sir 
William, and messengers, with the usual significant belts, were 
forthwith dispatched to the Cayugas and Onondagas. It was 
attended by the best results, as appears from subsequent entries 
in the Diary. Mr. M'Michael, who had been murdered by the re- 
creant Cayuga, was a traderof note, and the peculiar atrocity of 
his murder had created a deep feeling of indignation, for 
which the circumstances of treachery and duplicity stated in 
the official report from the commanding officer at Fort Stan- 
wix to Sir William, were a full warrant. The Cayugas lost 
no time in manifesting their sorrow and detestation of the 



14 LIFE OF BRANT. [1742. 

crime, as will be seen from the following extract from the 
Baronet's journal : * 

" Fort Johnson, Feb. 5. Skanarady, Teughsaragarat, and 
Ottawannio, three chiefs of the Cayuga nation, arrived here 
with several more, and after being introduced by Clement, 
the interpreter, began and said : 

"Brother Warraghiyagey : The unhappy murder of 
one of our brethren near the Oneida carrying place, is the oc- 
casion of our coming down at this severe season of the year. 
Our nation would not be at rest, nor easy, until they had spoke 
to you about it. We now. in their behalf, wipe away the tears 
from your eyes, so that you may look pleasant at us. We 
likewise remove all obstructions, and clear your throat, so that 
you may speak clear and friendly to us. Lastly, we wipe away 
the blood of our brother, lately killed near the cariying place, 
that the sight of it may no longer give us concern. 

Three Strings of Wamqnim. 

" Sir William told them that he would be ready the next 
morning to hear what they had further to say, and would desire 
his neighbours, the Mohawks, to attend. 

" Wednesday, Feb. 6. About twenty Mohawks arrived. 
The Cayugas being acquainted that Sir William was ready, 
with the Mohawks and two Onondagoes, to hear them, they 
entered the Council, and Skanarady spoke as follows : 

" Brother Warraghiyagey : On our arrival yesterday 
we wiped the tears from your eyes, and we now, agreeable to 
the custom of our forefathers, take the French hatchet, (which 
they gave to one of our foolish, deluded young men, giving 
him great rewards, and making him large promises if he 
would use it against our brethren the English,) out of your 
head, and bury it in a deep pool, where it can never be found ; 
also, with this belt of wampum we assure you that it gives 
our nation as much concern as it can you, and promise the great- 
est care shall be taken to prevent the like happening for the 
future. A Black and White Belt. 

* The author is of course aware that this is a digression from his main subject; 
but the incident is an interesting one, and the speech of the Cayugas worthy of 
preservation for its simple pathos, and also as an illustration of Indian character, 
Mr. M'Michael's family are yet among tbe most respectable residents of Schenectady. 



1742.] SIR WM. Johnson's diary. 15 

" Brother : With this beU we cover his grave, that the 
sight of it may no longer give you or us concern. 

A White Belt. 

" Brother : With these strings we raise up your head, 
now hanging down with concern for the loss of one of our 
brethren, and beg you will no longer keep sorrow in your mind< 
Three Stri7igs of Wampum. 

" Brother : Lastly, we most earnestly entreat that you 
will not, for what has happened, neglect the management of 
our affairs, as your neglect of them at any, but more particu- 
larly at this, time, must render us unhappy, and throw the con- 
federacy into confusion."' A Belt of Black and White. 

To which Sir William replied : — 

" Brethren of Cayuga : I have heard what you have 
by these belts said, and only now tell you that I shall defer en- 
tering into the affiiir until the Five Nations are met, which I 
expect will be soon, as I have invited them all here. Then you 
and they will hear what I have to say on the subject, and your 
belts shall be laid by safe until then." 

On the 11th of February, Sir William proceeded to Cana- 
joharie, at which place he had invited a meeting of the chiefs 
and warriors of the Mohawks. The occasion, and the pro- 
ceedings, will be understood from the annexed extract : — 

" Moiidaij, Feb. 12 — 8 at night. Being all assembled, Sir 
William told them that the reason of his coming to their castle 
was to get a number of their briskest men to join Captain 
Lotteridge, and. some of the Mohawks and Schoharies, on a 
scout to Tienderago, * or Crown Point, in order to sec what 
the enemy was about, and get him a prisoner from whom he 
might be able to get better intelligence than the General daily 
receives, and which would enable the General to take proper 
measures for the defence of the country until the opening of 
the campaign, — and that they would be ready in two days to 
set off for his house, where they would be supplied with every 
thing necessary for such service." 

A painted War-Belt thrown between tnem. 

No sooner was the belt cast among them, than Sonughsas^ a 

* Ticonderoga — alwa}s fpelled tluis by 8hr Wtllkin Johnson. 
7 



16 LIFE OF BRANT. [1742. 

chief of the Bear tribe, arose, took the belt in his hand, and 
sang his war-song, and was followed by several more of each 
tribe. Then Aroghigadecka, the chief sachem of the castle, 
stood up and said : — 

"Brother Warraghiyagey : We, the sachems and 
warriors of the Can^joharie castle immediately quit our hunt- 
ing on your call, and made all the haste possible to meet you 
here, where we are all heartily glad to see you ; and in answer 
to your desire, without any hesitation, I am desired by the 
young men present to tell you they will be ready to go with 
Captain Lotteridge, and the Mohawks, Sec. on the service you 
require, and we have no reason to doubt you will (in their ab- 
sence) take care of their families, who are extremely poor and 
in great want of provisions. Here returned the War-Belt. 

" Sir William thanked them for the readiness they showed on 
the occasion, and told them he would give their families some 
provisions in their absence, or money to purchase it, so that 
they should not suffer. He then gave them an entertainment, 
as usual on such occasions, and parted. He left that castle 
Tuesday morning, and arrived at Fort Johnson that night." 

The next mention of the Brants contained in the broken 
manuscripts of Sir William, is found in the private journal 
kept by him of his tour to Detroit in 176 1, after the surrender 
of the Canadas. The duty then devolved upon Sir William 
of meeting the upper Indians around the great Lakes, pre- 
viously under the influence, and many of them in the service, 
of the French, in Grand Council at Detroit, — to establish 
friendly relations with them, and receive a transfer of that 
quasi allegiance which the Indians have generally acknow- 
ledged to the whites, French, English, or American. In addition 
to his own immediate suite, among whom was his son. Lieute- 
nant Johnson, (afterward Sir John,) he was attended on the 
expedition by a detachment of troops, and a band of the Mohawk 
warriors. While at Niagara,* Sir William notes : 

" Monday J August 10. Nickus,t of Canajoharie, an Indian, 

♦ The author has already acknowledged his indebtedness to Archibald Johnson, 
Esq., of Lower Canada, for the original of this very interesting journal, which it is 
hoped will be of greater use in another work. 

t Nickus Hance — another name and a different person from Nickus Brant, of 



1742.] BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. 17 

arrived here, and acquainted me that several of his castle had 
died of malignant fever ; and that all Brant's family were ill of 
the same disorder, except the old woman. He also told me that 
he had heard by the way from several Indians, that I was to be 
destroyed or murdered on my way to Detroit ; and that the In- 
dians were certainly determined to rise and fall on the English, 
as several thousands of the Ottaways and other nations had 
agreed to join the Five Nations in this scheme or plot." 

It is needless, however, to multiply citations to the point im- 
mediately in view. The object of those already made has been 
to clear up the doubts, if possible, and establish the fact as to the 
immediate ancestry of Thayendanegea, alias Joseph Brant ; 
while, it is believed, the incidental history necessarily involved in 
these extracts has not been altogether devoid of interest. And 
although the fact is nowhere positively asserted, yet there is 

this Nickus, repeated mention is made in Sir William's previous official diaries. 
The following quotations are given as curious illustrations of Indian customs : 

" Fort Johnson, May 22,1757. Sir William spoke with Nickus Hance, alias 
Taicarihogo, a Canajoharie chief, who came to see him, and told him, that as he was 
much concerned for the loss of his (said Hance's) mother, who lately died, that lie 
expected he would remove his concern by going to war, and bringing either a pri- 
soner or a scalp to put in her room, or stead, as is usual among Indians. Upon this 
Sir William gave him a very fine black belt to enforce his request. Taicarihogo 
returned Sir William thanks for the concern he shared for the loss of his mother, 
accepted the belt, and promised he would, on his return home, call his young men to- 
gether, and lay Sir William's belt and request before them." [The giving of a belt 
in this way, was a sort of commission to make up a scalping party against the 
forces or the settlements of the enemy. — Jluthor.] 

Of a similar character is the following extract from the Diary : 

", Albany, May 18, 175S. Capt. Jacob Head, of a Company of Stockbridge In- 
dians, brought to Sir William's lodgings four French scalps, which his cousin, chief 
of another company of said Indians, had taken from the enemy some few days be- 
fore, and the aforesaid Jacob spoke as follows : 

" Brother Warraghayagey : This scalp (the one with a black belt tied to it paint- 
ed) I desire maybe delivered to my wife's uncle, old Hickus, of Canajoharie, to re- 
place her mother, who was his sister. 

" This scalp, (meaning another upon the same stick, with a bunch of black wampum 
tied to it,) I send to the aforesaid man to replace Eusenia, who was Taraghyorie's 
wife. 

" This scalp, (meaning a scalp by itself on a stick, with a bunch of black wam- 
pum,) my cousin. Captain Jacob, gives to replace old KingHcndrick, of Canajoharie. 
[Killed in 1755, at the battle of Lake George.— .^it^/ior.] 

"This scalp, (meaning the small one tied round with a bunch of wampum,) my 
said cousin gives to replace Hickus's son, who was killed at the battle of the Lake 
under your command," 



18 LIFF. OF BRANT. [1742 

much reason to suppose that he was the son of Nickus Brant, 
whose Indian name, according to Sir WiUiara Johnson, was 
Aroghijadecka ; but which has been furnished to the author by 
the family as Tehowaghwengaraghkicin. It has been seen 
from the extracts that JNickus Brant was a Canajoharie chief of 
character and celebrity, between whom and Sir WiUiam a close 
intimacy subsisted. When called to Canajoharie upon business 
or pleasure, the Baronet's quarters were " at Brant's house," as 
noted in his own Diary. It is likewise well known, that after the 
decease of Lady Johnson, (an event which occurred several 
years antecedent to the period of which we are now writing, and 
before he had won his baronetcy at Lake George,) Sir William took 
to his home as his wife, Mary Brant, or " Miss Molly," as she was 
called, with whom he lived nntil his decease in 1774, and by whom 
he had several children. This circumstance is thus mention- 
ed by Mrs. Grant in her delightful book already referred to : — 
" Becoming a widower in the prime of life, he connected himself 
" with an Indian maiden, daughter to a sachem, who possessed 
" an uncommonly agreeable person and good understanding ; 
" and whether ever formally married to him according to our 
" usage, or not, continued to live with him in great union and 
'' affection all his life." The Baronet himself repeatedly speaks 
of this Indian lady in his private journals. While on his ex- 
pedition to Detroit, entries occur of having received news from 
home, and of having written to "Molly." He always men- 
tioned her kindly, ex gr : — 

" Wednesday, Oct. 2ist. Met Sir Robert Davers and Cap- 
tain Etherington, who gave me a packet of letters from Ge- 
neral Amherst. * * * Captain Etherington told me Molly was 
delivered of a girl : that all were well at my house, where they 
staid two days." 

But to return from these digressions. Molly, as it has already 
been stated, was the sister of Thayendanegea ; and both, ac- 
cording to the account of the London Magazine of 1776, the 
earliest printed testimony upon the subject, were the grand- 
children of one of the Mohawk chiefs who visited England 
half a century before. That his father was a chief, several au- 
thorities have likewise been cited to show ; to which may be 
oxided that of Allen's Biographical Dictionary, where the fact 



1755.] BATTLE OF LAKE GEORGE. 19 

is positively asserted.* From such a body of testimony, there- 
fore, direct and circumstantial, it is hazarding but very little to 
assume, that, so far from having been of humble and plebeian 
origin, according to the statement of Dr. Stewart, Joseph Brant 
was of the noblest descent among his nation. 

Of the early youth of Joseph, there are no accounts, other 
than that he was very young when first upon the war-path. 
In one of the authorities to which reference has already been 
made,t it is stated, that having attained the age of thirteen years, 
he joined the warriors of his tribe under Sir William Johnson, 
and was present at the memorable battle of Lake George, in 
which the French were defeated, and their commander, the 
Baron Dieskau, mortally wounded. The Mohawks were led 
into action by their celebrated king, the brave old Hendrick, 
who was slain, t It was this victory which laid the foundation 
of Sir William's military fame, and in reward for which he was 
created a Baronet. It is reported, that in relating the particu- 
lars of this bloody engagement to Doctor Stewart, the youthful 
warrior acknowledged, "That this being the first actional which 
" he was presentj^e was seized with such a tremor when the 
" firing began, that he was obliged to take hold of a small sap- 
" ling to steady himself; but that after the discharge of a few 
" vollies, he recovered the use of his limbs and the composure 
" of his mind, so as to support the character of a brave man, of 
'• which he was exceedingly ambitious." He was no doubt a 
warrior by nature. " I hke," said he, once in after-life, when 
the conversation was about music, " the harpsichord well, and 
" the organ still better ; but I like the drum and trumpet best 
" of all, for they make my heart beat quick."ll 

President Allen states that the father of Thayendanegea had 
three sons in the army of Sir William Johnson in the year 

* President Allen is connected by marriage with the family of the late President 
Wlieelock, and has had excellent opportunities for arriving at the probable truth. 

f Christian Register. 

t A council of war was called Sept. 8. It was proposed to send a detachment to 
meet the enemy. When the number was mentioned to Hendrick, he replied — " If 
they are to fight, they are too few ; if they are to be killed, they are too many." 
When it was proposed to send out the detachment in three parties, Hendrick took 
three sticks, and said, "Put these together, and you can't break them ; take them 
one by one, and you will do it easily." Hendrick's advice was taken, and victory 
was the result. — Holmes, 

li Lftler of T. Cam-bRll to Ahyonwaeghs, 



20 LIFE OF BRANT. [1759. 

1756. Of these Joseph was probably the youngest, since he 
was but thirteen at the battle of Lake George in 1755. A 
young warrior truly : but he might well have been there, even 
at that tender age, since, by all the accounts that have descended 
to us, he must have been a lad of uncommon enterprise — giving 
early promise of those eminent qualities, which were developed 
in the progress of a life of various and important action. 

The youthful warrior likewise accompanied Sir William 
during the Niagara campaign of 1759, and in the brilliant 
achievements of the Baronet, after the chief command had de- 
volved upon him by the death of General Prideaux, is said to 
have acquitted himself with distinguished bravery. General 
Prideaux, commanding the expedition, was killed by the acci- 
dental explosion of a cohorn on the 20th of July, soon after 
commencing the siege ; but Sir Wilham prosecuted the plan 
of his fallen superior with judgment and vigour. On the 24th 
of July Monsieur D' Aubrey approached the fortress with a 
strong force, for the purpose of raising the siege. A severe en- 
gagement ensued in the open field, which resulted in the tri- 
umph of the British and Provincial arms. The action was 
commenced with great impetuosity by the French, but Sir Wil- 
liam was well prepared for their reception. After a spirited 
contest of half an hour, the French broke, and the fate of the 
day was decided. The flight of the French was bloody and dis- 
astrous for the space of five miles, at which distance D' Aubrey, 
and most of his officers, were captured. The Indians behaved 
uncommonly well on this occasion, and Brant was among them. 
On the following day, so vigorously did the Baronet prosecute 
his operations, the fort was taken, with all its military supplies 
and about six hundred prisoners. By this blow the French 
were cut off from their project of keeping up a line of fortified 
communications with Louisiana. 

The exertions of Sir William Johnson to improve the 
moral and social condition of his Mohawk neighbours, were 
not the least of his praiseworthy labours among that brave and 
chivalrous people. Having aided m the building of churches 
and locating missionaries among them, at the request of the 
Rev. Mr. Kirkland and others, he selected numbers of yoimg 
Mohawks, and caused them to be sent to the " Moor Charity 
School," established at Lebanon, Connecticut, under the im- 



1761.] moor's charity school, 21 

mediate direction of the Rev. Doctor Eleazer Wheelock, after- 
ward President of Dartmouth College, of which, by its tranfer, 
that school became the foundation. Among the youths thus 
selected was young Thayendanegea, the promising brother of 
" Miss Molly." 

The precise year in which he was thus placed under the 
charge of Dr. Wheelock cannot now be ascertained. The 
school itself was opened for the reception of Indian pupils, 
avowedly as an Indian missionary school, in 1748 ; the first 
Indian scholar, Samson Occum, having been received into it 
five years before.* It has been asserted that Joseph was re- 
ceived into the school in July 1761, at which time he must have 
been nineteen years old, and a memorandum of his preceptor 
to that effect has been cited. According to Dr. Stewart,t how- 
ever, he was a mere boy when first sent to Lebanon ; and it 
will presently appear that the entry of Dr. Wheelock was most 
probably incorrect. He was doubtless at the school in that 
year, and very likely on the point of leaving it ; since three 
years afterward he will be found settled in his own native val- 
ley, and engaged in very different pursuits. 

The correspondence between Doctor Wheelock and Sir Wil- 
liam was quite active at this period upon the subject of the 
school, and Joseph was himself employed as an agent to pro- 
cure recruits for it. Thus, in a letter from the Baronet to the 
Doctor, dated November 17, 1761, he says—" I have given in 
'• charge to Joseph, to speak in my name to any good boys he 
" may see, and encourage to accept the generous offers now 
" made to them; which he promised to do, and return as soon 
" as possible, and that without horses." The probability, how- 
ever, is, that he went to the school immediately after his return 



* The success of the Doctor with him, was a strong inducement for estabhshing 
the school. Occum was ordained to the ministry in 1759 ; and was subsequently 
located as a missionary among the Oneidas, to which place he was accompanied by 
Sir William himself. The Indian preacher afterward compiled and published a 
volume of devotional hymns. 

t Although, for want of other authorities in regard to the young chief at this period 
of his life, it is necessary to use that of Dr. Stewart, yet that is evidently not very 
accurate. For instance, he sends Thayendanegea to Dr. Wheelock at Dartmouth ; 
whereas the school at that place was not opened until 1770, at which period, or only 
one year thereafter, by the same authority, the chief was living in his own house, with 
a wife and children, at Canajoharie. 



22 LIFE OF BRANT. [1762. 

from the Niagara campaign in 1759. No doubt he had left it 
before Sir Wilham wrote the letter just cited, and, being en- 
gaged upon some Indian mission, had been instructed to interest 
himself among the people of the forest in behalf of that institu- 
tion. That he did not, himself, remain long at the school, is 
conceded. According to Dr. Stewart, moreover, he made but 
little proficiency in his studies at this seminary, having 
" learned to read but very indiiferently in the New Testament, 
" and to write but very httle." The fact, however, that the 
Rev. Charles Jeffrey Smith, a missionary to the Mohawks, took 
Thayendanegea as an interpreter in the year following, (1762,) 
and gave him an excellent character, presents a much more fa- 
vourable idea of his progress in learning while at the school ; 
as also does the following passage from the memoirs of his 
teacher : — " Sir William Johnson, Superintendant of Indian 
" affairs in North America, was very friendly to the design of 
" Mr. Wheelock, and at his request sent to the school, at various 
" times, several boys of the Mohawks to be instructed.* One of 
" them was the since celebrated Joseph Brant ; who, after re- 
" ceiving his education., was particularly noticed by Sir William 
" Johnson, and employed by him in public business. He has 
" been very useful in advancing the civilization of his coun- 
" trymen, and for a long time past has been a military officer 
" of extensive influence among the Indians in Upper Canada."! 
Accompanying Thayendanegea to the "Moor School," + were 
several other Mohawk youths, and two Delawares liad entered the 
school before him. The name of one of Thayendanegea's com- 
panions was William, a half-breed, who was supposed to be the 
son of his patron. Only two of the number remained to receive 
the honours of the future college. The others, impatient of the 
restraints of a school, and delighting more in the chase of game 
than of literary honours, loving their native forests better than 
sunny fields, and preferring to string the bow and speed the 

* When the foundation of the school was enlarged by the hberality of the Earl of 
Dartmouth and others, in England, and the same was removed from Connecticut, it 
contained 24 pupils, 6 of whom were Indians. There is among the Johnson papers 
a letter from President Wheelock, written to Sir William in 1772, introducing two 
of his Indian pupils to the acquaintance of the Baronet. — Authm: 

t M'Chiro's Life of Wheelock, page 27. 

% So called from the name of its founder, Mr. Joshua Moor, of Mansfield, Con- 
necticut. 



1762.] AT moor's charity school. 23 

arrow, rather than turn over the pages of Livy or Corderius, 
returned to their hunter state in about two years. Thayen- 
danegea probably left the school at the same time. He used, 
when speaking of the school, to relate with much pleasantry 
an anecdote of " William," who, as he affirmed, was one day 
ordered by Mr. Wheelock's son to saddle his horse. The lad 
refused, alleging that, as he was a gentleman's son, the per- 
formance of such a menial office would be out of character. 
" Do yon know," inquired the younger Wheelock, " what a 
gentleman is?" "I do," replied William; " a gentleman is a 
person who keeps race-horses, and drinks Madeira wine, and 
that is what neither you nor your father do, — therefore saddle 
the horse yourself!"* 

The exigencies of the frontier country did not allow Thay- 
endanegea to remain long associated in the mission with Mr. 
Smith. He was again called out upon the war-path, as ap- 
pears by the following paragraph in one of the Rev. Mr. Kirk- 
land's t earliest reports to the Rev. Dr. Wheelock, in regard to 
the Christian missionaries and teachers employed among the 
Six Nations : — 

" Joseph Brant, a Mohawk Indian, and of a family of distinc- 
" tion in that nation, was educated by Mr. Wheelock, and was 
" so well accomplished that the Rev. Charles Jeffrey Smith, (a 
" young gentleman who, out of love to Christ and the souls of 

* Christian Recorder. This anecdote reminds the author of another, which 
he has heard a distinguished Kentucky member of Congress relate with great glee 
of himself. When first elected, he said he had never crossed the Alleghanies, and 
he feared greatly that his ignorance and rusticity would be but too manifest when he 
came to associate with gentlemen. He had heard that gentlemen were fond of 
Champagne, of which he had never tasted. But he said, that at the first dinner party 
after his arrival at the seat of government, he was reUeved of his embarrassment. 
At the first taste of the sparkling liquor, he found that he loved it. He knew, there- 
fore, that he was made for a gentleman ! And a very agreeable and accomplished 
gentleman he became. 

t The Rev. Samuel Kirkland, father of President Kirkland, late of Harvard Uni- 
versity, and for more than forty years a missionary among the Six Nations — chiefly 
the Oneidas. He was the son of the Rev. Daniel Kirkland, of Norwich (Conn.) 
where he was born in 1742. His education was commenced at Dr. Wheelock's 
school, and his collegiate course performed at Princeton, where he was graduated in 
1765. He first commenced his labours among the Senecas, in 1766, having learned 
the Mohawk language while in college. He was often employed by the Govern- 
ment in various Indian transactions, and died at Paris, Oneida County, in March,- 
1808. 

8 



24 LIFE OF BRANT. [1763. 

" men, devotes his life, and such a fortune as is sufficient to 
" support himself and an interpreter, wholly to this glorious 
" service,) took him for his interpreter when he went on his 
" mission to the Mohawks, now three years ago. But the war 
" breaking out at that time between the back Indians and the 
" English, Mr. Smith was obliged to return ; but Joseph tarried, 
" and went out with a company against the Indians, and was 
" useful in the war ; in which he behaved so much like the 
" Christian and the soldier, that he gained great esteem. He 
" now lives in a decent manner, and endeavours to teach his 
" poor brethren the things of God, in which his own heart 
" seems much engaged. His house is an asylum for the mis- 
" sionaries in that wilderness."* 

Neither the particular war in which the young chief was 
then engaged, nor the time of the campaign, is noted in 
the foregoing extract. A passage contained in a letter from Sir 
William Johnson to Dr. Wheelock, however, dated April 25th, 

1764, affords a clue to the desired information : — " J is just 

" returned from an expedition against the enemy, who have 
" abandoned their towns, of which three were burned, with four 
'•' villages, consisting, in all, of about two hundred houses, built 
" with squared logs, and vast quantities of corn, <fcc. Parties 
" are now in pursuit of the enemy." It was therefore early in 
the Spring of 1764 that young Brant returned from the war — ■ 
then brought to a close. The war itself could have been none 
else than that against the great Ottoway chief Pontiac, who, in 
1763, undertook to dispossess the English of the country of the 
lakes, then recently acquired by conquest ft om the French. Pon- 
tiac was by far the most formidable chief with whom the En- 
glish colonists had had to contend since the fall of Philip. He 
combined the great Indian tribes of the north-west almost as 
one man, and in 1763 led thirty-six chiefs, with their trains of 
warriors, against Detroit, after having carried several of the re- 
mote western posts. A well- concerted stratagem, timely dis- 
covered to the British commander by an Indian woman, had 
well nigh placed that important position within his power also. 
Foiled in the plan of obtaining admission by stratagem and 
putting the garrison to death, Pontiac laid siege to the fort, at- 

* Narrative of the Indian Charity School, published by Dr. Wheelock in 1767, 
page 35. 



1765.] THE WAR OF PONTIAC. 2'5 

tacking it with great fury. It was besieged for a long time, as 
also were the fort at Niagara and Fort Pitt. It was not until 
the Autunin of 1763 that the English were able to throw suc- 
cours into Detroit, in accomplishing which enterprise some of 
the Mohawk warriors were engaged. There had been several 
severe engagments with Pontiac's warriors in the course of that 
Summer, in which the Indians attached to the English cause 
had fought with great bravery. The vessel carrying the sup- 
plies to Detroit, was likewise furiously attacked bf a force of 350 
Indians, in boats on the lake, but they were bravely repulsed. 
In what particular battles, during this contest, Thayendanegea 
was engaged, does not appear. But he was in the war, and 
his courageous and enterprising spirit offered the best evidence, 
that he neither avoided the post of danger, nor failed to reach it 
for want of activity. Having invested Detroit for a twelve- 
month, the French, moreover, with whom he was in alliance, 
having lost their power in America, Pontiac sued for peace on 
the approach of Gen. Bradstreet from Pittsburgh, at the head of 
3000 men.* 

In 1765, Thayendanegea, having been previously married to 
the daughter of an Oneida chief, was settled at Canajoharie, 
as appears by a letter from the Rev. Theophilus Chamberlain, 
one of the missionaries to the Six Nations, to the Rev. Dr. 
Wheelock, written from Canajoharie, and dated July 17th of that 
year. After speaking of the encouraging condition of the In- 
dian school, and the prospect of opening another, Mr. Cham- 
berlain said: — "I am now at Joseph Brant's house, very poorly 
" with the dysentery, which hath followed me near a week. 
" Riding in the rain sometimes, wading through tracks to 
" get along, and lodging on the cold ground the other night, 
" have made me almost down sick ; but my business keeps me 
" alive. Joseph Brant is exceeding Idnd." 

Three years afterward he was s-till leading a peaceful life at 
the same place, as we learn from the following entry in the 
journal of Mr. Ralph Wheelock, who had been sent to Oneida 
to relieve Mr. Kirkland, that gentleman being sick : 

^ " March 18, 1768. At my old friend, Joseph Brant's, I met 
one of the chiefs of the Onondagas, (who is, by way of emi- 

* Pontiac was assassinated in 1779, during a war between the loways and Otta- 
was. He was a great man. 



26 LIFE OF BRANT. [1771. 

nence, called the Wise-man,) on his return to his tribe, with 
his wife and child ; and by Joseph Brant's help I was able to 
discourse with him, and delivered my message to his nation." 

During the three years next ensuing, no certain information 
has been obtained respecting his course of life. As the country 
was at peace, however, he was probably leading a life of repose 
at home, save when acting, upon occasional business visits 
among the Indians, under the direction of Sir William John- 
son. It is vei^r probable, moreover, that he may at that time 
have been connected with the English Episcopal Missions to 
the Mohawks, commenced in the Mohawk Valley so early as 
1702, and continued down to the beginning of the Revolu- 
tionary war. Having been employed as an interpreter by one 
of the missionaries, several years before ; and as the Rev. Dr. 
John Ogilvie, the predecessor of Dr. Barclay in that mission, 
was engaged, in the year 1769, in revising, extending, and re- 
printing the Mohawk Prayer Book, embracing additional pas- 
sages of Scripture, some occasional prayers, and Indian versi- 
fications of several psalms, it is highly probable that Thayen- 
danegea may have been employed as an assistant in that 
labour, since he was partial to exercises of that description. 

In the year 1771, the Rev. Mr. Stewart conducted a school 
at Fort Hunter, thirty miles below Canajoharie. A venerable 
friend of the author, yet living in Albany,* states, that being a 
pupil in Doctor Stewart's school at about that time, he had 
opportunities of seeing Thayendanegea at that place frequently, 
and formed an acquaintance with him, which continued, 
interrupted only by the war of the Revolution, until the death 
of the warrior. He then formed an excellent opinion of the 
young chief in regard to talents and good disposition. It is 
believed, that from the shrewdness of his sister Molly and the in- 
fluential position which she occupied in the family of Sir Wil- 
liam, added to his own talents and sagacity, he was much 
employed at home by the Baronet, in the discharge of the multi- 
farious duties incident to his important official station. He was 
also frequently engaged upon distant embassies among the 
"western tribes, and his talents and tact as a diplomatist of the 
forest, were qualities pertaining to his character through life. 

* Douw Fonda, Esq., son of Captain Jelles Fonda, who was an active and very 
/efiicjent officer, both in the Indian and Military service, under Sir William Joluison. 



1772.] HIS SECOND MARRIAGE. 27 

Thayendanegea was thrice married — having been twice a 
widower before the war of the Revokition. His first two 
wives were of the Oneida tribe. The Rev. Dr. Stewart states 
that he first became acquainted with him in the winter of 1771. 
He was then still residing at Canajoharie, on visiting which 
village the Doctor says he found him comfortably settled, in a 
good house, with every thing necessary for the use of his 
family — consisting of a wife, in the last stage of consumption, 
and two children — a son and a daughter. His wife died some 
time afterward, on which Thayendanegea repaired to Fort 
Hunter, and resided with the Doctor for a considerable length 
of time. Doctor Stewart was then engaged upon another re- 
vision of the Indian Prayer Book, and Joseph assisted him in 
making various additional translations. He likewise assisted 
the Doctor in translating a portion of the Acts of the Apostles, 
and a short history of the Bible, together with a brief explana- 
tion of the Church catechism, into the Mohawk language.* 

It is stated on the same authority,! that in the winter of 
1772-3, he applied to Doctor Stewart to marry him to the half- 
sister of his deceased wife, but the Divine refused the applica- 
tion on the ground of the forbidden relationship. Brant, 
however, vindicated the act, much in the manner of white 
widowers desirous of forming the like connexion ; arguing, 
very naturally, that the fact of the relationship would secure a 
greater degree of tenderness and care for his children. Still 
the Episcopal minister persisted in his refusal, and a less scru- 
pulous German ecclesiastic gratified his desire by performing 
the ceremony. 

It was at about the same period of his life that Thayenda- 
negea became the subject of serious religious impressions. He 
attached himself to the Church, was a chastened and regular 
communicant at the celebration of the Eucharist ; and from his 
serious deportment, and the anxiety he had ever manifested to 
civilize and Christianize his people, great hopes were entertained 

* Doctor Stewart states that he was directed to repair to New- York, and publish 
these books at the expense of the Missionary Society, but was prevented by the 
breakmg out of the war. He took the MSS. to Canada, and afterward delivered 
them to Colonel Daniel Claus, by whom they were taken to England j but it does 
not appear that they were ever published. 

t The Christian Register. 



28 LIFE OF BRANT. [1773, 

from his future exertions in that cause. No doubt has ever 
been entertained of his sincerity at that time ; and it has been 
attributed to the counteracting influences of the dreadful trade 
of war, in which it was his fortune afterward again so actively 
to become engaged, that those manifestations of Christian 
utility were effaced ; entirely eradicated they were not, as will 
be seen at a subsequent stage of the career of this remarkable 
man. 

Ill compliance with Indian custom, he selected a bosom friend, 
during that period of his life we are now contemplating, in the 
person of a Lieutenant Provost, a half-pay oflicer residing in 
the Mohawk Valley. Those unacquainted with Indian usages 
are not probably aware of the intimacy, or the importance at- 
tached to this relationship. The selected friend is, in fact, the 
counterpart of the one who chooses him, and the attachment 
often becomes romantic ; they share each other's secrets, and are 
participants of each other's joys and sorrows. As the Revolu- 
tionary troubles were approaching. Lieutenant Provost was 
ordered to his regiment and upon foreign service, greatly to 
the regret of the future chieftain. His lamentations attracted 
the attention of Doctor Stewart, who advised him to select ano- 
ther friend — offering to stand as a substitute himself But no ; 
the young chief declared that such a transfer of his affections 
could not take place. He was Captain John's friend, and ano- 
ther such friend could not be in existence at the same time. 
Lieutenant Provost had been ordered to the West Indies ; and 
in order to assure him of the strength and constancy of his at- 
tachment, Thayendanegea procured an entire Indian costume 
of the richest furs he could obtain, which was sent to him in 
Jamaica. This incident has been detailed, not because in itself 
of any particular importance, but as disclosing an excellent 
trait of character, besides illustrating a feature of Indian life 
which may not be familiar to all.* Other events will now occu- 
py the attention of the reader, in which the Mohawk chieftain 
will be but one of many actors, though seldom an obscure one. 

* A similar custom prevailed among the ancient Greeks. Two young warriors 
often assumed this obhgation of brotherhood, which was taken with pecuhar ceremo- 
nies, and maintained inviolate through life. 



CHAPTER II. 



Early symptoms of disaffection at Boston — Origin of the Revolutionary War — Fi st 
blood shed in 1770 — Stirring eloquence of Joseph Warren — Feelings of Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson — His influence with the Indians and Germans, and his unpleasant 
position — Last visit of Sir William to England — His death — Mysterious circum- 
stances attending it — Suspicions of suicide unjust — His son, Sir John Johnson, 
succeeds to his title and estates — His son-in-law, Col. Guy Johnson, to his office 
as Superintendant General of the Indians— Early life of Sir John — Joseph Brant 
appointed Secretary to Guy Jolmson — Influence of the Johnson family — Revolu- 
tionary symptoms in Tryon County, fomented by the proceedings in New Eng- 
land — First meeting of Tryon County Whigs— Declaration of Rights — First meel- 
ing of Congress — Effect of its proceedings — in England — Tardiness of Provin- 
cial legislature of New- York — Spirit of the people — Notes of preparation in Mas- 
sachusstts, &c. — Overt acts of rebellion in several States — Indians exasperated by 
the Virginia borderers in 1774 — Melancholy story of Logan — Campaign of Lord 
Dunmore and Colonel Lewis — Battle of the Kanhawa— Speech of Logan — Its 
authenticity questioned — Peace of Chilicothe — Unhappy feeling of the Indians. 

It has been usually asserted by historians, that the first blood 
in the war of the American Revolution was shed at Lexing- 
ton ; but such is not the fact. The Boston massacre of 1770 
was the beginning of that contest, so fearful in its commence- 
ment, so doubtful in its progress, and so splendid in its results. 
The storm had even then been gathering for several years, and 
the public mind had become exceedingly feverish, not only in re- 
gard to the conduct of the parent government, but in respect to 
the language and bearing of the officers of the crown stationed 
in the colonies. When, moreover, the people of Boston were 
subjected to what they considered a still greater indignity, by 
the quartering of soldiers among them, the irritation was such 
that but a small degree of forecast was necessary to the percep- 
tion of an approaching explosion. The affair at Gray's Rope- 
Walk, on the 2d of March, increased the mutual exasperation ; 
and the massacre that followed on the 5th was but the natural 
consequence. The first blow was then struck. The town was 
thrown into commotion, the drums beat to arms ; and the news, 
with the exaggerations and embellishments incident to all 
occasions of alarm, spread through the country with the rapi- 
dity of lightning. Every where, throughout the wide extent 
of the old thirteen colonies, it created a strong sensation, and 
was received with a degree of indignant emotion, which very 
clearly foretold that blood had only commenced flowing ; and 



30 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

although five years intervened before the demonstration at Lex- 
ington, there were too many nervous pens and eloquent tongues 
in exercise to allow those feelings to subside, or to suffer the 
noble spirit of liberty that had been awakened to be quenched. 
Such stirring orations as those of Joseph Warren were not ut- 
tered in vain ; and so often as the anniversary of the 5th of 
March returned, were the people reminded by him, or by his 
compatriots of kindred spirit — " The voice of your brethren's 
" blood cries to you from the ground." The admonition had 
its effect, and the resolutions of vengeance sank deeper and 
deeper into the hearts of the people, until the fulness of time 
should come. 

Sir William Johnson was too observing and sagacious a man 
not to note the signs of the times. He saw the sfathering; tem- 
pest, and it is believed to have given him great uneasiness. 
His sympathies, according to the testimony of those who knew 
him, were undoubtedly with tlie people. He was from the 
body of the people himself, having been the architect of his 
own rank and fortunes ; and those who were acquainted with, 
and yet survive him, represent the struggle in his bosom to 
have been great, between those sympathies and his own strong 
principles of liberty on the one hand, and his duty to his sove- 
reign on the other — a sovereign whom he had served long and 
faithfully, and who in turn had loaded him with princely bene- 
factions. His domains in the Valley of the Mohawk were 
extensive ; and his influence, through a large number of subordi- 
nate officers and a numerous tenantry, was correspondingly 
great. To the Indians, not only of the Six Nations but those 
far in the west beyond, who had fallen within the circle of his 
influence after the conquest of Canada and the subjugation of 
Pontiac. he had been as a father, and they looked up to him 
with veneration. Long association with him, and great Respect 
for his character — which, from its blunt honesty, frankness, and 
generosity, not altogether devoid of that roughness incident to 
a border population, was well calculated to secure the attach- 
ment of such people — had also given to his opinions the force 
of legal authority among the Colonists. The population, aside 
from the Indians, was chiefly Dutch, in the lower part of the 
Mohawk Valley ; while in the interesting vale of the Schoharie 
Kill, and the upper district of the Mohawk, it was composed of 



1774.] DEATH OP SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON. 31 

the descendants of the German Palatinates, who had been planted 
there fifty years before. It was not at that period a very intel- 
ligent population ; and the name of Sir William, who had been 
their friend and companion in peace, and their leader in war, 
like that of the King, was a tower of strength. It was very 
natural, therefore, that their opinions upon the great political 
questions then agitating the country, should take their com- 
plexion for the most part from those entertained by him. Hence, 
when the storm of civil war commenced, the Loyalists in that 
valley were probably more numerous, in proportion to the whole 
number of the population, than in almost any other section of 
the northern colonies. 

In connexion with the troubles which every man of ordinary 
sagacity could not but perceive were fermenting, Sir William 
visited England for the last time in the Autumn of 1773, 
returning in the succeeding Spring. He probably came back 
with his loyal feelings somewhat strengthened. It was not 
his fortune, however, good or ill, to see the breaking out of 
the tempest, the near approaches of which he had been watch- 
ing with an intenseness of observation corresponding with the 
magnitude of his own personal interests, which must necessa- 
rily be involved. He died suddenly, at Johnson Hall, on or 
about the 24th of June, 1774. 

It was reported by his enemies, — or rather by the enemies of 
the Crown, — that he perished by his own hand, in consequence 
of the clouds which he saw darkening the political sky ; and such 
an impression is yet very generally entertained. The tradition 
is, that on the day of his decease he had received despatches 
from England, which were handed to him while sitting in 
Court, and with which he immediately left the Court-house and 
walked to his own house. These despatches, it was afterward 
reported, contained instructions to him to use his influence 
with the Indians in behalf of the Crown, in the event of hos- 
tilities. Another version of the tradition is, that on the day in 
question he had received despatches from Boston, the complexion 
of which, in his own mind, indicated that a civil war was near 
and inevitable. In such an event he saw that he must either 
prove recreant to his principles, or take part against the 
Crown ; and, to avoid either alternative, it has been extensively 
9 



32 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

believed that he put an end to his hfe.* But there is no just 
ground for this uncharitable conclusion. It is true that he had, 
on the evenino^ of the 24th, received despatches from Massa- 
chusetts, the tenor of which, by excitement, may have hasten- 
ed the malady to which his system was predisposed. It was a 
busy day at Johnstown. The Circuit Court was in session, 
at which, however. Sir William was not present, being engaged 
in holding a treaty with some of the Six Nations. In the 
course of his speech to the Indians on that occasion, he alluded 
to the despatches he had received, and stated to them that 
troubles were brewing between the Americans and their King 
— advising them not to abandon the cause of the latter, who 
had always been benevolent and kind to them. " Whatever 
may happen," said the Baronet, "you must not be shaken out 
of your shoes."! 

In the afternoon of that day Sir William was taken with a 
fit. Colonel Johnson, his son, was absent at the Old Fort — dis- 
tant nine miles. An express was sent for him, and, mounting 
a fleet English blood-horse, he rode for the Hall with all possi- 
ble haste. His horse fell dead when within three quarters of 
a mile of the house, having run upward of eight miles in fifteen 
minutes. The Colonel hired the horse of some one standing 
by, and pushed forward to the Hall. On entering the room, 
he found his father in the arms of a faithful domestic, who at- 
tended upon his person. He spoke to his parent, but received 
no answer ; and in a few minutes afterward the Baronet ex- 
pired + — of apoplexy, beyond a doubt. This was early in the 
evening. While the judges of the Court were at supper in the 
village, one mile distant, a young Mohawk Indian entered their 
apartment and announced the event. 

Sir William was succeeded in his titles and estates by his 

* Mr. Campbell, in his "Annals," favors this opinion. He says — "There is 
something still mysterious connected with his death. He had been out to England, 
and returned the previous Spring. During a visit which he made shortly afterward 
to Mr. Campbell, an intimate friend of his at Schenectady, the conversation turned 
upon the subject of the disputes between the Colonies and the Mother Countr}\ 
He then said, he should never live to see them in a state of open loar." — Ann. p. 12. 

f MS. statement of a gentleman whose father was with Sir William that morning, 
and was present at the Indian Council. 

+ MS. statement of Colonel William Feeter, in possession of the author. Col. F. 
is yet living ^May, 1837.) 



1774.] SIR JOHN JOHNSON. 33 

son, Sir John Johnson ; but the reins of authority, as General 
Super intendant of the Indian Department, fell into the hands 
of the son-in-law of Sir William, Colonel Guy Johnson, who 
had long been in office as the Assistant, or Deputy of the old 
Baronet. This officer was assisted by Colonel Daniel Clans, 
who had likewise married a daughter of Sir William. On the 
decease of his father, Sir John also succeeded to his post as 
Major General of the militia. 

Of the early life of Sir John Johnson not much is known. 
He was not as popular as his father, being less social, and less 
acquainted with human nature and the springs of human 
action. He accompanied his father on some of his warlike ex- 
peditions, however, and probably saw considerable service. 
Soon after the termination of the French war, he was sent by 
his father, at the head of a small expedition, to the Mohawk can- 
ton of Oghkwaga,* to arrest a Captain Bull, and some other 
malcontents and disaffected Indians, who were charged with 
being engaged in an effort to enlist the Six Nations in a war 
against some other Indians, or possibly to win them over to the 
designs of Pontiac. For this purpose young Johnson had a 
choice corps of men placed under his command, most of whom 
had served with the Baronet against the French. He had also 
a detachment of Indians with him. The expedition was ar- 
ranged somewhat with a view of display — for the purpose, as 
it was conjectured, of giving eclat to the young commander. 
The enterprise was successful — Bull and his adherents were 
taken, and brought in irons to Johnstown. From thence they 
were sent to Albany and imprisoned for a time, but were all 
subsequently discharged. Before the Revolution commenced, 
Sir John married Miss Mary Watts, of the city of New-York.t 

The successors of Sir William Johnson did not, however, pos- 
sess the same degree of moral power over the population of 
Tryon County, Indian or white, as had been exercised by him. 
But they nevertheless derived essential aid from " Miss Molly," 



* The author has found much difficulty in attempting to determine the orthogra- 
phy of this place. It is now generally written Oquaga. In the Congi-essional jour^ 
nals of the Revolution it was spelled Oneaquaga. By some writers it is written 
Oghquaga. The late highly intelligent Mohawk, chief, Norton, always wrote it 
Oghkwaga, which orthography has been adopted by the author. 

t Sister to the late venerable John Watts, who died in September, 1836. 



34 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

who was a woman of talents as well as tact, and possessing 
great influence among the Indians, who were her own people, 
Molly Avas in turn aided by the counsels and exertions of her 
brother, Joseph Thayendanegea, who had been much in the ser- 
vice of Sir William during the latter years of his life, and who, 
on the death of the Baronet, was advanced to the post of Secretary 
of Guy Johnson. These gentlemen, however, (Sir John John- 
son, Guy Johnson, and Colonel Glaus,) living in great splen- 
dour, at, and in the neighbourhood of Johnstown, and thus allied 
with the family of a powerful Mohawk sachem, were still ena- 
bled to exert a decided influence, especially among the Indians. 
Tliey were likewise in close oflicial and political alliance with 
Colonel John Butler, an opulent and influential gentleman of 
that county, and his son Walter N. Butler — names rendered 
memorable, if nothing worse, by association with certain bloody 
transactions, which will be developed in the progress of the pre- 
sent volume. 

But, notwithstanding all their influence — and no family in 
America had ever been regarded with greater deference by the 
surrounding population than that of the Johnsons — they were 
not long in discovering that the principles now openly avowed 
in Massachusetts, could not be conflned within the limits of that 
colony, or even of New England. Though less openly pro- 
claimed, yet as the waters of a fountain ooze through the earth 
unseen until they have gathered force enough to break the 
surface and gush forth, so was it with the principles of Liberty 
sent abroad by " the Boston rebels," as they worked their way 
up the valley of the Mohawk ; and the successors of Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson were not long in discovering, that although they 
could still count among their retainers a large number of ad- 
herents, the leaven of civil liberty had nevertheless been more 
deeply at work than they had desired, or probably supposed. 
The celebrated " Boston Port Bill," enacted in consequence of 
the destruction of the tea in that harbour in 1773, had gone into 
operation only a month preceding the death of Sir William ; 
and in the next month subsequent to his decease, a public meet- 
ing was held in the Palatine district, warmly seconding the 
proposition of Massachusetts for the assembling of a general 
Congress, for mutual consultation and counsel in the existing 
posture of the political afl'airs of the Colonies. The original 



1774.] SPIRIT OF TRYON COUNTY. 35 

draft of the proceedings of that meeting is yet in existence, in 
the hand-writing of Col. Christopher P. Yates -a patriot who 
embarked early in the struggle, and served to tlie end. They 
breathed the genuine spirit of freedom, and as a declaration of 
rights, are well entitled to a place among the fervid papers of 
that day, which were so powerful in their operation upon the 
public mind. After setting forth the concern and sorrow felt 
by the meeting, at the shutting up the port of Boston, and the 
tendency of the acts of Parliament for raising a revenue in the 
American Colonies, which they held to be an abridgment of 
the privileges of the people, the meeting resolved : 1st. That 
they recognised the King as their lawful sovereign, would bear 
true faith and allegiance to him, and would, with their lives and 
fortunes, support and maintain him on the throne of his ances- 
tors, and the just dependence of the Colonies upon the crown 
of Great Britain. 2d. That they considered it their greatest 
happiness to be governed by British laws, and would pay cheer- 
ful submission to them, as far as they could do so, consistently 
with the security of the Constitutional rights of English sub- 
jects, " ivhich loere so sacred that they could not permit them 
to he violated^ 3d. That all taxes without their own consent, 
or the consent of their representatives, were unjust and uncon- 
stitutional; and the acts of Parliament upon the subject were 
denounced, as obvious encroachments upon the rights and li- 
berties of British subjects. 4th. That the act closing the port 
of Boston was arbitrary and oppressive to the inhabitants, whom 
they considered to be suffering in the common cause. 5th. 
That they would unite with their brethren elsewhere, in re- 
lieving the necessities of the suffering poor in Boston, and in 
"any thing tending to support our rights and liberties." 6th. 
Approving of the calling of a general Congress, and of the five 
members who had already been appointed by their brethren of 
New^-York. 7th. That they would abide by such regulations 
as might be agreed upon by the said Congress. 8th. Appoint- 
ing a committee of correspondence for that district,* and recom- 
mending the other districts of the county to do the same. 

The Congress met in Philadelphia in September, 1774, and 
after adopting a declaration of rights, and setting forth wherein 

* Christopher P. Yates, Isaac Paris, and John Frcy. 



36 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

those rights had been violated, they agreed upon an address to 
the King, exhibiting the grievances of the Colonies, and praying 
for his Majesty's interposition for their removal. An address 
to the people of British America was likewise adopted, together 
with an appeal to the people of Great Britain, as also a letter 
to the people of Canada.* The Congress then adjourned, to 
meet again in May. 1775. The papers put forth from that 
august assembly had a powerful effect upon the public mind. 
They were also highly extolled by Lord Chatham in the 
House of Peers, who declared, that " In all his reading and ob- 
"servation — and it had been his favourite study — for he had 
" read Thucydides, and had studied and admired the master 
"states of the world — for solidity of reasoning, force of saga- 
"city, and wisdom of conclusion, under such complication of 
"circumstances, no nation or body of men could stand in 
"preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia."! 

The Provincial Assembly of New- York was the only le- 
gislature in the Colonies that withheld its approbation from the 
proceedings of the Congress — the loyalists of that Colony being, 
from a variety of causes, more numerous and influential than 
in any other of the provinces. In the Valley of the Mohawk 
they were particularly zealous and active ; and the Johnson 
family, with their associates, were ceaseless in their efforts to 
divert the revolutionary spirit, which was but too obviously 
abroad. 

But like the bitter plant in the vegetable pharmacopoeia, the 
principles of liberty only thrive more rapidly beneath a pres- 
sure, and the spark which had been struck in the Palatine 
district, they not only found it impossible to extinguish, but a 
measure of their own adoption had the effect of kindling it into 
a blaze — and, once kindled, the fire of liberty is as inextinguish- 
able as t?ie Greek. 

In Massachusetts, however, other menacing measures be- 
sides the passage of resolutions, were adopted toward the close 
of 1774. Governor Gage having issued writs for the holding 
of a General Assembly, in October, afterward countermanded 

♦ Mr. R. H. Lee wrote the address to the American people, and Mr. Jay that to 
the people of Great Britain. 
f Parliamentary Register. 



1774.] SPIRIT OF THE COLONIES. 37 

the writs by proclamation. But the new members, to the 
number of ninety, maintaining the illegahty of the proclama- 
tion, met notwithstanding. Neither the Governor, nor any 
substitute, appearing to complete their organization, they 
formed themselves into a Provincial Congress, and adjourned to 
Concord. From Concord, after some collisions with the Go- 
vernor, they removed to Cambridge ; and in the course of their 
sittings measures were adopted for the public defence, and the 
organization of minute men, to the number of twelve thousand. 
Connecticut and New Hampshire were requested to augment 
the number to twenty thousand. Governor Gage complained 
bitterly that the edicts of this Consfress were implicitly obeyed 
throughout the country. Before the year had expired, a royal 
proclamation was received, prohibiting the exportation of mili- 
tary stores to America. This document caused general indig- 
nation. In Rhode Island and New Hampshire the people at 
once seized upon the arms and ordnance in their public places 
and garrisons, and other corresponding measures were adopted 
by the Colonial authorities. In the more Southern provinces 
signs of jealousy and discontent began to be more unequivo- 
cally manifested. A meeting of the military officers of Vir- 
ginia, under Lord Dunmore, was held, at which resolutions, 
professing loyalty and looking rebellion, were adopted. The 
Provincial Congress of Maryland approved of the proceedings 
of the General Congress ; and in South Carolina, Judge Day- 
ton, in a memorable charge to a Grand Jury at Camden, set the 
ball in motion in that Colony. Doctor Franklin, being in Lon- 
don, was required to attend a meeting of the Committee for 
Plantations, to whom had been referred the petition of the 
Massachusetts Assembly for the removal of Governor Hutch- 
inson and Lieutenant-Governor Oliver. He supported the 
petition, and was, the day after, dismissed by the Crown from 
the office of postmaster for the Colonies. 

It may readily be conceived that an excitement thus increas- 
ing from day to day, and thus rapidly extending the circle of 
its influence, would not long be confined to measures of re- 
monstrance and petition. Most unfortunate was it, therefore, 
that, just at this conjuncture, while all sagacious men saw by 
the shadows what events were coming, and all good men were 



38 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

solicitous for the preservation of the character and augmenta- 
tion of the physical strength of the country, a small band 
of bad ones adopted a course well fitted to awaken the 
jealousy of the whole Indian race, and exasperate a portion of 
them to tlie highest pitch of anger and revenge. It was evi- 
dent that the Colonies were about to measure swords with one 
of the strongest powers in Christendom, and to strike for free- 
dom. True wisdom, therefore, required that the clouds of 
Indians darkening more than a thousand miles of our border, 
and in the North forming an intermediate power between our 
own settlements and the country of the anticipated foe, should 
be at least conciliated into neutrality, if not courted into an al- 
liance. But a contrary course was taken by some of the fron- 
tier-men of Virginia, and a hostile feeling awakened by a 
succession of outrages, unprovoked and more cruel than sava- 
ges, as such, could have committed. The well-informed reader 
will at once anticipate that reference is now liad to the hostili- 
ties upon the North-western frontier of Virginia, commonly 
known as Cresap's VV"ar, from the agency of a subaltern ofii- 
cer of that name, whose wanton cruelty provoked it, and one 
striking event of which has rendered every American ear 
familiar whh the name of Logan, the celebrated •' Blingo 
Chief"* 

The wars and the conquests of the Six Nations had been the 
cause of transplanting many families, among whom were some 
of distinction, over the countries subjected to their arms. 
Among these was the family of Logan, the son of Shikelliimis,] 
a distinguished Cayuga sachem, who had removed from the 
particular location of his own tribe, to Shamokm, or Canestoga, 
within the borders of Pennsylvania, where he executed the 
duties of principal chief of those of the Six Nations residing on 
the Susquehanna. He was a man of consequence and human- 
ity, and one of the earliest to encourage the introduction of 
Christianity by Count Zinzendorf. He was a great friend to 
the celebrated James Logan, who accompanied William Penn 

♦ Mingo, Mengwe, Maquas, and Iroquois, are all only different names applied 
to the Six Nations. 

f Sldkellimus was a contemporary of the famous Cmmassalego, and is known in 
Colden's History of the Six Nations by the different names of Skickcalamy, Shicala- 
my, and Shick Calamy. — Drake. 



1774.] STOUV OF LOGAN. 39 

on his last voyage to America, and who subsequently became 
distinguished in the colony for his learning and benevolence. 
Hence the name of the famous son of Shikellimus, so closely 
identified with the scenes about to be described. 

Logan had removed from his father's lodge at Shamokin to 
the Shawanese country on the Ohio, where he had become a 
chief. He was a friend of the white men. and one of the no- 
blest of his race ; not only by right of birth, but in consideration 
of his own character. During the Indian wars connected with 
the contest with France, which were continued for a consider- 
able time after the conquest of Canada, he took no part, save in 
the character of a peace-maker. 

The circumstances which transformed this good and just 
man from a sincere friend into a bitter foe, will appear in the 
following narrative : — It happened in April or May of 1774, 
that a party of land-jobbers, while engaged in exploring lands 
near the Ohio river, were robbed, or pretended to have been 
robbed, of a number of horses by the Indians, The leader of 
the land-jobbers was Captain Michael Cresap. Alarmed at the 
depredation upon their property, or affecting to be so, Cresap 
and his party determined to make war upon the Indians, with- 
out investigation, and irrespective, as a matter of course, of 
the guilt or innocence of those wliom they should attack. On 
the same day, falling in with two Indians, Cresap and his men 
killed them. Hearing, moreover, of a still larger party of In- 
dians encamped at some distance below the site of the present 
town of Wheeling, the white barbarians proceeded thitlier, and 
after winning the confidence of the sons of the forest by pre- 
tended friendship, fell upon and slaughtered several of their 
number, among whom were a part of the iiimily of the white 
man's friend — Logan.* 

Soon after this atrocious affair, another followed, equally fla- 
gitious. There was a white settlement on the east bank of the 
Ohio, about thirty miles above Wheeling, among the leading 
men of which were one named Daniel Greathouse, and another 
named Tomlinson. A party of Indians, assembled on the oppo- 

* Doddridge, iahis History of the Indian Wars, states timt no evidence oCllic im- 
puted theft was ever adduced ; and aflirms liis belief tliat the report was false, and 
the Indians innocent, even of a comparatively minor trespass, 

10 



40 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

site bank of the river, having heard of the murders committed 
by Cresap, determined to avenge their death, of which resohi- 
tion Greathouse was admonished by a friendly squaw, who ad- 
vised him to escape, while he was reconnoitring for the purpose 
of ascertaining their numbers. He had crossed the river with 
thirty-two men under his command, and secreted them for the 
purpose of falling upon the Indians ; but finding that they were 
too strong for him, he changed his plan of operations, re-crossed 
the river, and, with a show of friendship, invited them over to 
an entertainment. Without suspicion of treachery the Indians 
accepted the invitation, and while engaged in drinking — some 
of them to a state of intoxication — they were set upon and 
murdered in cold blood. Here again, fell two more of the 
family of Logan — a brother and sister, the latter being in a 
situation of peculiar delicacy. The Indians who had remained 
on the other side of the river, hearing the noise of the trea- 
cherous attack, flew to their canoes to rescue their friends. 
This movement had been anticipated ; and sharp-shooters, sta- 
tioned in ambuscade, shot numbers of them in their canoes, 
and compelled the others to return. 

These dastardly transactions were enacted on the 24th of 
May. They were soon followed by another outrage, which, 
though of less magnitude, was not less atrocious in its spirit, 
while it was even more harrowing to the feelings of the Indians. 
The event referred to was the murder, by a white man, of an 
aged and inoffensive Delaware chief named the Bald Eagle. 
He had for years consorted more with the white people than 
his own, visiting those most frequently who entertained him 
best. At the time of his murder he had been on a visit to the 
fort at the North of the Kanhawa, and was killed while alone, 
paddling his canoe. The man who committed the murder, it 
was said, had been a sufferer at the hands of the Indians ; but 
he had never been injured by the object upon whom he wreaked 
his vengeance. After tearing the scalp from his head, the 
white savage placed the body in a sitting posture in the canoe, 
and sent it adrift down the stream. The voyage of the dead 
chief was observed by many, who supposed him living, and 
upon one of his ordinary excursions. When, however, the 
deed became known, his nation were not slow in avowals of 



1774.] CRESAP'S WAR. 41 

vengeance.* Equally exasperated, at about the same time, 
were the Shawanese, against the whites, by the murder of one 
of their favourite chiefs, Silver Heels, who had in tlie kindest 
manner undertaken to escort several white traders across the 
woods from the Ohio to Albany, a distance of nearly two hun- 
dred miles, t 

The consequence of these repeated outrages, perpetrated by 
white barbarians, was the immediate commencement of an In- 
dian war, the first leader of which was Logan, who, with a 
small party of only eight warriors, made a sudden and alto- 
gether unexpected descent upon a Muskingum seitlement, with 
complete success. In the course of the Summer great numbers 
of men, women, and children, fell victims to the tomahawk and 
scalping-knife. Logan, however, though smarting under u 
keen sense of his own wrongs, set his face against the practice 
of putting prisoners to the torture, so far as he could. In one 
instance, he so instructed a prisoner doomed to run the gaunt- 
let, as to enable him to escape without receiving essential in- 
jury. In another case, with his own hand he severed the cord 
which bound a prisoner to the stake, and by his influence pro- 
cured his adoption into an Indian family. 

To punish these atrocities, provoked, as all authorities concur 
in admitting, by the whites, a vigorous campaign was under- 
taken by the Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, with a force 
of between two and three thousand men. Eleven hundred of 
these Provincials, mostly riflemen, and comprising much of the 
chivalry of Virginia, constituting the left wing, were entrusted 
to the command of General Andrew Lewis, t with instructions 
to march direct for Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great 
Kanhawa ; while his lordship, proceeding with the right wing, 
was to cross the Ohio at a higher point, and fall upon the In- 
dian towns in their rear. For reasons never satisfactorily ex- 
plained, although the cause of some controversy at the time, 
there was a failure of the expected co-operation on the part of 
Lord Dunmore. 



* M'Clung, as cited by Drake. t Heckewelder. 

I Andrew Lewis was, in fact, only a colonel ; but he was in the chief command 
of the division, and as he had a brother, Charles Lewis, also a colonel, he has been 
designated as a General by courtesy, and for the purpose of distinguishing the com- 
mander from the otlier colonel. 



42 LIFE OP BRANT. [1774. 

General Lewis commenced his march on the 11th of Sep- 
tember. His course was direct, through a trackless wilderness, 
one hundred and sixty miles ; over \vhich all the supplies of 
the army were necessarily to be transported on pack-horses. 
The march was very slow and tedious— occupying nineteen 
days. Arrived at or near the junction of the Kanhawa with 
the Ohio, Lewis waited eight or nine days to obtain tidings 
from liord Dunmore, but heard not a syllable. 

Early on the morning of the 10th of October, two of Lewis's 
scouts, who were about a mile in advance, were hred upon by a 
large body of Indians; one of the scouts was killed, and the other 
escaped to camp with the intelligence. It was yet half an hour 
to sunrise, and instant dispositions were made to move forward 
and attack. Just as the sun was rising, the Indians, who were 
advancing upon a like errand, were met, and an engagement 
ensued, which continued with greater or less severity through 
the day. The Virginians had bivouacked upon a point of land 
between the two rivers, giving the Indians an important advan- 
tage of position, inasmuch as, if defeated, retreat would be im- 
possible for the former, while the latter could fly at their plea- 
sure. But such was not the purpose of the Indians. Their 
numbers have been variously stated, from eight to fifteen hun- 
dred, consisting of Shawanese, Delawares, Mingoes, Wyandots, 
Cayugas. and several other tribes, led in chief by Logan, assist- 
ed by other celebrated chiefs, among whom were Cornstock, 
Ellenipsico, (his son,) and the Red Eagle. 

The onset was impetuous upon both sides. Colonel Charles 
Lewis led the right of the Virginians, and was in advance. 
He fell almost at the first fire, mortally wounded, and shortly 
afterward expiree]— having walked back to his own camp. 
The Virginians, like the Indians, sought every advantage by 
fighting from the shelter of trees and bushes ; but in the first 
part of the engagement the advantages were with the Indians, 
and two of the Virginia regiments, after severe loss, especially 
in officers, were compelled to give way. Colonel Fleming, who 
commanded the left, though severely wounded in the beginning 
of the action, by two balls through his arm and another through 
the breast, bravely kept the field for some time, cheering his 
men, and, urging them not to lose an inch of gromid, directed 
them to outflank the enemy. But the assault of the Indians 



1774,] BATTLE OF THE KANHAWA. 43 

was vigorous and their fire so severe, that the left, like the 
right, was yielding, when, at the most critical moment. Colonel 
Field's regiment was brought with great spirit and resolution 
into the action, by which timely movement the fortunes of the 
day were retrieved. The impetuosity of the Indians was checked, 
and they were in turn forced to retreat — falling back to avail 
themselves of a rude breast-work of logs and brush-wood, 
which they had taken the precaution to construct for the occa- 
sion. Colonel Field was killed at the moment his gallant 
regiment had changed the aspect of the battle, and he was 
succeeded by Captain Isaac Shelby, afterward the brave and 
hardy old Governor of Kentucky. 

The Indians made a valiant stand at their breast-work, de- 
fending their position until nearly night-fall. For several hours 
every attempt to dislodge them was unsuccessful ; the savages 
fighting like men who had not only their soil and homes to 
protect, but deep wrongs to avenge. " The voice of the migbty 
Cornstock was often heard during the day, above the din of 
battle, calling out to his warriors, ' Be strong ! Be strong !' 
And when, by the repeated charge of the Virginians, some of 
his warriors began to waver, he is said to have sunk his toma- 
hawk into the head of a coward who was attempting to fly."* 

The action had continued extremely hot until past twelve 
o'clock, after which it was abated at intervals, though a scat- 
tering fire was kept up most of the time during the day, To- 
Avard night, finding that each successive attack upon the line of 
the Indians in front but weakened his own force, without ma- 
king any perceptible impression upon the Indians, and rightly 
judging that if the latter were not routed before dark, the con- 
test must be resumed under at least doubtful circumstances on 
the following day, a final attempt was made to throw a body of 
troops into the rear. Three companies were detached upon 
this service, led by Captain Shelby. The ground favoured the 
enterprise. Availing themselves of the tall weeds and grass 
upon the bank of a creek flowing into the Katihawa, those 
companies passed the flank of the Indian ranks unobserved, 
and falling vigorously upon their rear, drove them from their 

» Drake— who compiles hia account of this spirited engagement, from Withers, 

M'Cluno, and Dofldndgp. 



44 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

lines with precipitation. Night came on, and the Indians, 
supposing that reinforcements of the Virginians had arrived, 
fled across the Ohio, and continued their retreat to the Scioto. 
They had not the satisfaction of taking many scalps— the 
bodies of a few stragglers only falling into their possession. In 
the official account it was stated that they scalped numbers of 
their own warriors, to prevent the Virginians from doing it. 
Of those Indians first killed, the Virginians scalped upward of 
twenty.* The loss of the Indians was never known. It must, 
however, have been severe ; since, in addition to the killed and 
wounded borne away, numbers of the slain were thrown into the 
river, and thirty-three of their warriors were found dead upon the 
field on the following day. The loss of the Virginians was like- 
wise severe. Two of their colonels were killed, four captains, 
many subordinate officers, and between fifty and sixty privates, 
besides a much larger number wounded.t 

Arrived at Chilicothe, a council of the Indians was convened 
to debate upon the question what was next to be done. Corn- 
stock, it was said, had been opposed to giving battle at Point 
Pleasant, but had resolved to do his best on being overruled in 
council. Having been defeated, as he had anticipated, he de- 
manded of the council, " What shall we do now 7 The Long 
" Knives are coming upon 2is by two routes. Shall we turn 
"out and fight them ?" No response being made to the ques- 
tion, he continued, " Shall loe kill all our squaiDS and chil- 
" dre?i, and then fight until we are all killed ourselves ?" As 
before, all were silent ; whereupon Cornstock struck his toma- 
hawk into the war-post standing in the midst of the council, 
and remarked with emphasis : " Since you are not inclined to 
"fight, I will go and make peace.'^X Saying which, he re- 



* Official Report. 

t Doddridge states the number of killed at 75, and of wounded at 140. In the esti- 
mate given in the text, Thatcher has been followed. It is stated by Drake, that a 
stratagem was resorted to in this action by the Virginians, similar to one thathad been 
practised in the early New England war of the Indians at Pawtucket. The Virginians, 
concealing themselves behind trees, would hold out their hats from behind and draw 
the fire of the Indians; the hat being instantly dropped, the Indian warrior who had 
brought it down, supposing that he had killed the owner, would rush forward to se- 
cure the scalp of his supposed victim — only to fall beneath an unexpected tomahawk. 

} Doddri ge. 



1774.] SPEECH OF LOGAN. 45 

paired to the camp of Lord Dunmore, who, having descended 
the Ohio, was now approaching the Scioto. 

Meantime General Lewis, having buried his dead, and made 
the necessary dispositions for an advance into the heart of the 
Indian country, moved forward in pursuit of the enemy — re- 
solved upon his extermination. He was soon afterward met by 
a counter-order from Lord Dunmore, which he disregarded ; 
and it was not until the Governor visited Lewis in his own 
camp, that a reluctant obedience was exacted. Meantime the 
negotiation proceeded, but under circumstances of distrust on 
the part of the Virginians, who were careful to admit only a 
small number of the Indians into their encampment at any one 
time. The chief speaker on the part of the Indians was Corn 
stock, who did not fail to charge the whites with being the sole 
cause of the war — enumerating the provocations which the 
Indians had received, and dwelling with peculiar force upon 
the murders committed in the family of Logan.* This lofty 
chief himself refused to appear at the council. He was in fa- 
vour of peace, but his proud spirit scorned to ask for it ; and he 
remained in his cabin, brooding in melancholy silence over his 
own wrongs. 

Of so much importance was his name considered by Lord 
Dunmore however, that a special messenger was despatched to 
ascertain whether he would accede to the articles of peace. 
This messenger was Colonel John Gibson, an officer in Dun- 
more's army, and afterward a man of some distinction. The 
" Mingo Chief" did not dissent from the terms, but gave not his 
sanction without an eloquent rehearsal of his grievances — rela- 
ting, in full, the circumstances of the butchery of his own 
entire family, to avenge which atrocities he had taken up the 
hatchet. His conference with Gibson took place in a solitary 
wood, and at its close, he charged him with the celebrated 

* Cornstock was a truly great man. Col. Wilson, who was present at the 
interview between the Chief and Lord Dunmore, thus speaks of the chieftain's 
bearing on the occasion : "When he arose, he was in no wise confused or daunted, 
but spoke in a distinct and audible voice, without stammering or repetition, and with 
peculiar emphasis. His looks, while addressing Dunmore, were truly grand and 
majestic, yet graceful and attractive. I have heard the first orators in Virginia, 
Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee ; but never have 1 heard one whose powers 
of delivery surpassed those of Cornstock." 



46 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774, 

speecli to Lord Dunmore, which has become famiUar wherever 
the English language is spoken: — 

"I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's 
cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold 
and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the 
last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an 
advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, tliat my 
countrymen pointed, as they passed^ and said, ' Logan is the 
friend of the white men.' I had even thought to have lived 
with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the 
last Spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the rela- 
tions of Logan , not even sparing my women and children. There 
runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. 
This called on me for revenge. I have sought it ; I have killed 
many ; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, 
I rejoice at the beams of peace ; but do not harbour a thought 
that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will 
not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn 
for Logan l Not one." 

This speech has ever been regarded as one of the most elo- 
quent passages in the English language. Mr. Jefferson remark- 
ed of it — " I may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes, 
" and of Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, if Europe 
" has furnished more eminent, to produce a single passage su- 
" perior to it ;" and an American statesman and scholar,* 
scarcely less illustrious than the author of this noble eulogium, 
has subscribed to that opinion.t 

* De Witt Clinton. 

t Thatcher's Incl. Biography. It is due in candour to state, that the authenticity of 
this celebrated speech has been questioned. On the first publication of Jefferson's 
Notes, the relatives and friends of Cresap made a great outcry against the charge 
of his having murdered Logan's family. Among other arguments in his defence, 
it was contended that the speech attributed to Logan had, in substance and almost 
in words, been delivered to the General Assembly of Virginia by a sachem named 
Lonan, twenty years before the date assigned to it by Mr. Jefferson. The speech 
referred to was discovered in the travels of Robin, a Frenchman, who visited the Co- 
lonies at an early period of the war of the Revolution. The passage stands thus in 
the English translation of " Robin's New Travels in America:" — 

"Speech of the savage Lonan, in a General Assembly, as it was sent to the 
Governor of Virginia, anno 1754: — 

"Lonan will no longer oppose making the proposed peace with the white men. 
You are sensible he never knew what fear is — that he never turned his back in the 



1774.] TEMPER OF THE INDIANS. 47 

Lord Dimmore, it is believed, was sincerely desirous of 
peace — from motives of humanity, we are ready to believe, al- 
though writers of less charity have attributed his course to a 
more unworthy feeling. Peace, therefore, was the result of the 
council. But it will readily be conceded that the Indian war- 
riors could not have retired to their respective tribes and homes, 
with any feelings of particular friendship toward the white men: 
On the contrary, the pain of defeat, and the loss of the warriors 
who fell, were causes of irritating reflection, in addition to the 
original and grievous wrong they had suffered at the hands of 
Cresap and Greathouse. The Six Nations, as a confederacy, 
had not taken part in the war of the Virginia border ; but many 
of their warriors were engaged in it, especially the Cayugas, to 
which nation Logan belonged, and the warriors of the Six Na- 
tions colonized on the banks of the Susquehanna and its tribu- 
tary the Shamokin. These, it may be reasonably inferred, re- 
turned from the contest only to brood longer over their accu- 
mulated wrongs, and in a temper not over-inclined to cultivate 
the most amicable relations with the Colonies. In one word, 
the temper of the whole Indian race, with the exception of the 
Oneidas, was soured by these occurrences of the year 1774 ; — a 

(lay of battle. No one has more love for the white men than I have. The war we 
have had with them has been long and bloody on both sides. Rivers of blood have 
run on all parts, and yet no good has resulted therefrom to any. I once more repeat 
it — let us be at peace with these men. I will forget our injuries ; the interest of my 
country demands it. I will forget — but difficult, indeed, is the task! Yes, I will 

forget that Major cruelly and inhumanly murdered, in their canoes, my wife, 

my children, my father, my mother, and all my kindred. This roused me to deeds 
of vengeance! I was cruel in despite of myself I will die content if my country is 
once more at peace, But when Lonan shall be no more, who, alas ! will drop a tear 
to the memory of Lonan ? " 

If the date to this speech be the true one, there is an end to the claim of Logan. 
But the resemblance in many manuscripts, between the figures 4 and 7, is so close 
as to induce a belief, (Dr. Barton's Journal of 1808 to the contrary notwithstanding) 
that the error may have been made by the English translator. This opinion is 
strengthened by the similarity between the name given by Robin, — Lonan — and 
Logan. The difference consists in a single letter, and might well have been the er- 
ror of the Frenchman, when writing the identical story of Logan. In the course of 
his investigations, Mr. Jefferson was furnished with a note, written by Logan, and 
sent to a white settlement, attached to a war-club, by the hand of an Indian runner, 
Heckewelder also says the speech was authenticated by Col. Gibson, and adds : — 
"For my part I am convinced that it was delivered precisely as it was related to us, 
with this only difference, that it possessed a force and expression in the lodian lan- 
eiiase, which it is impossible to translate info our own," 
11 



48 LIFE OF BRANT. [1774. 

most unfortunate circumstance, since events were then follow- 
ing in rapid succession, which within a twelvemonth rendered 
the friendship of the nations not only desirable, but an object 
of vast importance. 

But before the direct narrative leading to those events is re- 
sumed, it may be well to end the melancholy tale of Logan, 
" which can be dismissed with no relief to its gloomy colours." 
After the peace of Chilicothe he sank into a state of deep mental 
depression, declaring that life was a torment to him. He be- 
came in some measure delirious ; * went to Detroit, and there 
yielded himself to habits of intoxication. In the end he became 
a victim to the same ferocious cruelty which had already ren- 
dered him a desolate man. Not long after the treaty, a party 
of whites murdered him as he was returning from Detroit to 
his own country.! 

* Allen's Biog. Die. t Thatcher, 



CHAPTER III. 



Unyielding course of the parent Government — Efforts of the Earl of Chatham una- 
vailing — Address to the Crown from New- York — Leslie's Expedition to Salem — 
Affair of Lexington — Unwise movements of Tryon County loyalists — Reaction 
— Public meetings — The Sammons family — Interference of the Johnsons — 
Cluarrel at Caughnawaga — Spirited indications at Cherry Valley — Counteracting- 
efforts of the Johnsons among their retainers — Intrigues with the Indians — 
Massachusetts attempts the same — Correspondence with the Stockbridge Indians 
— Letter to Mr. Kirkland— His removal by Guy Johnson — Neutrality of the 
Oneidas — Intercepted despatch from Brant to the Oneidas — Apprehensions of 
Guy Johnson — Correspondence — Farther precautions of the Committees — Re- 
verence for the Laws — Letter of Guy Johnson to the Committees of Albany and 
Schenectady — Substance of the reply. 

The parent government did not relax its coercive measures, 
notwithstanding the efforts of the Earl of Chatham, now venera- 
ble for his years, who, after a long retirement, returned once more 
into public life, to interpose his eloquence and the influence of 
his great name in behalf of the Colonies. His lordship's ad- 
dress to the King for the removal of the troops from Boston, 
was rejected by a large majority. His conciliatory bill was 
also rejected. On the 26th of January, Messrs. Bolland, 
Franklin, and Lee, the Committee from the Colonies, charged 
with presenting the petition of the Continental Congress for a 
redress of grievances, brought the subject before the House of 
Commons, and after an angry debate they refused to receive it 
by a decisive vote. Meantime bills were passed, by large ma- 
jorities, restraining all the thirteen Colonies, excepting only 
New- York, Delaware, and North Carolina, from the prosecu- 
tion of any foreign commerce other than with Great Britain 
and her dependencies. The Eastern States were likewise ex- 
cluded from the fisheries of Newfoundland. But notwith- 
standing that, from motives of policy, New- York had been 
thus excepted from the restraining law, its local legislature was 
at the same time engaged in preparing a memorial to the 
Crown for a redress of grievances — a fact which the ministers 
soon learned, and not without mortification. The New-York 
address was a strong denunciation of the measures of the 
Government toward the Colonies, and an energetic appeal for 
redress. " We feel," said they, •' the most ardent desire to pro- 
mote a cordial reconciliation with the parent state, which can 



50 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

be rendered permanent and solid only by ascertaining the line 
of Parliamentary authority and American freedom, on just, 
equitable, and constitutional grounds. * * * From the year 
1683 till the close of the late war, they had enjoyed a legisla- 
ture consistingof three distinctbranches, a Governor, Council, and 
general Assembly ; under which political frame the representa- 
tives had uniformly exercised the right of their own civil go- 
vernment, and the administration of justice in the Colony. It 
is, therefore, with inexpressible grief that we have of late 
years seen measures adopted by the British Parliament, subver- 
sive of that constitution under which the good people of this 
Colony have always enjoyed the same rights and privileges, so 
highly and deservedly prized by their fellow-subjects of Great 
Britain." Adverting to the essential privilege of trial by a 
jury of the vicinage, they " view with horror the construction 
of the statute of the 35th of Henry the VIII. as held up by the 
joint address of both houses of Parliament in 1769, advising 
his Majesty to send for persons guilty of treasons and mispri- 
sions of treasons, in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, in order 
to be tried in England ;" and they " are equally alarmed at the 
late acts, empowering his Majesty to send persons guilty of 
offences in one colony, to be tried in another or within the 
realm of England." They complain of the act of 7th of 
George the III. requiring the legislature of this Colony to make 
provision for the expense of the troops quartered among them ; 
of the act suspending their legislative powers till they should have 
complied ; and of the Quebec act ; considering themselves as 
interested in whatever may affect their sister Colonies ; they can- 
not help feeling for the distresses of their brethren in Massa- 
chusetts, from the operation of the several acts of Parliament 
passed relative to that province, and earnestly remonstrating in 
their behalf. " We claim," said they, " but a restoration of those 
rights which we enjoyed by general consent before the close of 
the last war ; we desire no more than a continuation of that 
ancient government to which we are entitled by the principles 
of the British constitution, and by which alone can be secured 
to us the rights of Englishmen." The address was presented 
to the House of Commons by Mr. Burke, but was never called up.* 

* Holmes's Annals. 



1775.] AFFAIR OF LEXINGTON. 51 

A new Provincial Congress was assembled in Massachusetts 
in February, which, anticipating that the parent Government 
was preparing to strike the first blow at that Colony, adopted 
farther means of precaution and defence — but with great wis- 
dom avoiding any thing like an overt act of resistance. Hos- 
tilities had well nigh been commenced on the 26th of Februa- 
ry, between Salem and Danvers, by the opposition of Colonel 
Timothy Pickering and others, to Colonel Leslie, who had been 
sent to Salem by General Gage, to seize some military stores, 
which he had been informed were collecting at the former 
place. The interposition of Mr. Barnard, the minister of Sa- 
lem, prevented the effusion of blood, and Leslie returned to 
Boston from a bootless errand. 

The ill-starred expedition, by the direction of General Gage, 
to Concord, and the battle of Lexington on the 19th of April, 
gave the signal of a general rush to arms throughout most of the 
Colonies, True, it was not admitted to be a formal commence- 
ment of hostilities, and the Provincial Congress of Massachu- 
setts despatched an account of that affair to Great Britain, with 
depositions, establishing the fact indisputably, that both at 
Concord and Lexington the firing had been commenced by 
the King's troops — Major Pitcairn himself discharging the first 
shot, at the former place. But although this message was ac- 
companied by an address to the people of Great Britain with 
continued professions of loyalty, yet those professions were 
sent, hand in hand, with a declaration that they would " not 
tamely submit to the persecution and tyranny " of the existing 
ministry, and with an appeal to heaven for the justice of a cause 
in which they were determined to die or conquer. It was very 
evident, therefore, that reconciliation was out of the question, 
and that a trial of arms was near at hand. Of course the ex- 
asperation of the public mind was now at its height, and those 
who had not taken sides could no longer stand neutral. 

It was at this moment, just as the Continental Congress was 
about to reassemble, and just as the exciting intelligence was 
received from Boston, that, most unwisely for themselves, the 
influential loyalists of Tryon County undertook to make a 
demonstration against the proceedings of the Congress of the 
preceding Autumn. A declaration in opposition to those pro- 



52 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

ceedings was drawn up, and advantage taken of the gathering 
of the people at a Court holden in Johnstown, to obtain signa- 
tures. The discussions ran high upon the subject, but the 
movers in the affair succeeded in obtaining the names of a 
majority of the Grand Jurors, and the greater portion of the 
magistracy of the County, 

The Whigs in attendance at the Court were indignant at 
this proceedure, and on returning to their respective homes, 
communicated their feelings to those of their neighbors who 
had embraced kindred principles. Public meetings were called, 
and committees appointed in every district, and sub-committees 
in almost every hamlet in the County.* The first of these 
public meetings was held at the house of John Veeder in 
Caughnawaga. It was attended by about three hundred peo- 
ple, who assembled, unarmed, for the purpose of deliberation, 
and also to erect a liberty-pole — the most hateful object of that 
day in the eyes of the loyalists. Among the leaders of the 
Whigs on that occasion, were Sampson Sammons, an opulent 
farmer residing in the neighbourhood, and two of his sons, 
Jacob and Frederick. Before they had accomplished their 
purpose of raising the emblem of rebellion, the proceedings 
were interrupted by the arrival of Sir John Johnson, accompa- 
nied by his brothers-in-law. Colonels Claus and Guy Johnson, 
together with Colonel John Butler, and a large number of their 
retainers, armed with swords and pistols. Guy Johnson mount- 
ed a high stoop and harangued the people at length, and with 

* The County of Tryon then included all the Colonial settlements West and 
South-west of Schenectady. It was taken from Albany County in 1772, and named 
in honour of William Tryon, then Governor of the Province. In 1784 the name 
was changed to Montgomery. When formed, it embraced all that part of the 
State lying West of a line running North and South, nearly through the centre of 
the present County of Schoharie. It was divided into five districts, which were 
again subdivided into smaller districts or precincts. The first, beginning at the 
East, was the Mohawk district, embracing Fort Hunter, Caughnawaga, Johnstown, 
and Kingsborough. Canajoharie district, embracing the present town of that 
name, with all the country South, including Cherry Valley and Harpersfield, Pala- 
tine district North of the river, and including the country known by the same name, 
with Stone Arabia, &c., and German Flatts and Kingsland Districts, being then 
the most Western settlements, and the former now known by the same name. The 
county buildings were at Johnstown, where, as before mentioned, was the residence 
of Sir William Johnson.— Campbell's Annals. 



1775.] MEETINGS OP THE PEOPLE. 53 

great vehemence. He dwelt upon the strength and power of 
the King, and attempted to show the folly of opposing his offi- 
cers or revolting against the authority of his crown. A single 
ship, he said, would be sufficient to capture all the navy which 
could be set afloat by the Colonies ; while on the frontiers, the 
Indians were under his Majesty's control, and his arms were 
sustained by a chain of fortified posts, extending from the Gulf 
of the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. He was very virulent 
in his language toward the disaffected, causing their blood to 
boil vv^ith indignation. But they were unarmed, and for the 
most part unprepared, if not indisposed, to proceed to any act 
of violence. The orator at length became so abusive, that 
Jacob Sammons, no longer able to restrain himself, imprudently 
interrupted his discourse by pronouncing him a liar and a vil- 
lain. Johnson thereupon seized Sammons by the throat, and 
called him a d — d villain in return. A scuffle ensued between 
them, during which Sammons was struck do^vn with a loaded 
whip. On recovering from the momentary stupor of the blow, 
Sammons found one of Johnson's servants sitting astride of his 
body. A well-directed bklw relieved him of that incumbrance, 
and, springing upon his feet, he threw off his coat and prepared 
for light. Two pistols wefe immediately presented to his 
breast, but not discharged, as Sammons was again knocked 
down by the clubs of the loyalists, and severely beaten. On 
recovering his feet once more, he perceived that his Whig 
friends had all decamped, with the exception of the famihes of 
the Fondas, Veeders. and Visschers.* The loyalists also drew 
off, and Jacob Sammons returned to his father's house, bearing 
upon his body the first scars of the Revolutionary contest in the 
County of Tryon. 

One of the largest and most spirited of these meetings took 
place in Cherry Valley. It was held in the church, and the 
people entered into the subject with so much enthusiasm, that 
they took their children to the assembly, that they might im- 
bibe lessons of patriotism, as it were at the altar — thus hallow- 
ing the cause in which they were about to engage, with the 



* Narratives of J acob and Frederick Sammons, furnished to the author ; repeated 
references to both of which will be made hereafter. 



54 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

impressive sanctions of religion. The orator of the occasion 
was an Indian interpreter by the name of Thomas Spencer ; 
he was rude of speech, but forcible ; and, warming with his 
theme, spoke with such power and effect, that the story of his 
eloquence yet lives in the annals of tradition.* The result of 
this meeting was the adoption of a strong counter-declaration, 
condemning the proceedings of the loyahsts at Johnstowii, and 
approving, in the most unequivocal and solemn terms, of the 
proceedings of the Continental Congress. 

These proceedings took place early in May. But from a letter 
addressed to the Committee of Safety of Albany, by the Commit- 
tee of the Palatine district, on the 18th of that month, it appears 
that the Johnsons and their powerful confederates in the Mo- 
hawk district succeeded, by threats, intimidation, and an array 
of military strength, in preventing the adoption of a correspond- 
ing declaration by the Whigs. " This County," says the Pa- 
latine Committee, " has for a series of years been ruled by one 
" family, the several branches of which are still strenuous in 
" dissuading the people from coming into Congressional mea- 
" sures, and have even, last week, at a numerous meeting of 
'' the Mohawk district, appeared with all their dependents armed 
" to oppose the people considering of their grievances : their 
'' number being so large, and the people unarmed, struck terror 
'' into most of tliem, and they dispersed." The Committee far- 
ther notified their friends in Albany, that Sir John Johnson 
was fortifying the Baronial Hall, by planting several swivels 
around it ; and he had paraded parts of the regiment of militia 
which he commanded, on the day previous, for the purpose 
of intimidation, as it was conjectured. It was likewise reported 
that the Scotch Highlanders, settled in large numbers in and 
about Johnstown, who were Roman Catholics, had armed 
themselves to the number of one hundred and fifty, ready to 
aid in the suppression of any popular outbreaks in favor of 
the growing cause of Liberty. 

Strong suspicions were early entertained that the Johnsons, 
Butlers, and Colonel Claus, were endeavouring to alienate the 
good-will of the Indians from the Colonists, and prepare them, 
in the event of open hostilities, to take up the hatchet against 

• And also in Campbell's Annals 



1775.] INTRIGUES WITH THE INDIANS. 65 

them. Thayendanegea, alias Joseph Brant, as heretofore men- 
tioned, was now the secretary of Colonel Guy Johnson, the 
superintendent, and his activity was ceaseless. Notwithstand- 
ing his former friendship for Mr. Kirkland, the faithful mis- 
sionary to the Oneidas, Thayendanegea was apprehensive that 
his influence would be exerted to alienate the Indians from the 
interests of the Crown, and attach them to those of the Colo- 
nists. The wily chief accordingly attempted to obtain the re- 
moval of Mr. Kirkland from his station ; and at his instigation, 
a dissolute sachem of the Oneidas preferred charges against the 
minister to Guy Johnson, the superintendent. A correspon- 
dence took place between Johnson and Mr. Kirkland upon the 
subject, in which the latter sustained himself with force and 
dignity. The Oneida nation, moreover, rallied to his support, 
almost to a man ; so that the superintendent was obliged, for 
the time being, to relinquish the idea of his forcible removal.* 

Justice, however, both to Brant and Guy Johnson, requires it 
to be stated that the vigilant eyes of the Bostonians had already 
been directed to the importance of securing an interest among 
the Indians of the Six Nations, in anticipation of whatever 
events were to happen. To this end a correspondence was open- 
ed through Mr. Kirkland, even with the Mohawks, by the Pro- 
vincial Congress of Massachusetts, before the affair of Lexington 
and Concord.t The following is a copy of the letter addressed 
to the missionary by the Provincial Congress : — 

To THE Rev. Samuel Kirkland. 

" Concord, April Uh, 1775. 
"Sir, 
" The Provincial Congress have thought it necessary to ad- 
dress the sachem of the Mohawk tribe, with the rest of the Six 
Nations, upon the subject of the controversy between Great 
Britain and the American Colonies. We are induced to take 
this measure, as we have been informed that those who are 
inimical to us in Canada have been tampering with those na- 
tions, and endeavouring to attach them to the interest of those 
who are attempting to deprive us of our inestimable rights and 

* The correspondence referred to in this passage was discovered by the author 
among the unpubUshed papers of Mr. Kirkland — obligingly loaned for his use bv 
President Kirkland of Boston. 

t Sparks's Life and Cor. of Washington, vol. iii. Appendix. 

12 



56 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

privileges, and to subjugate the Colonies to arbitrary power. 
From a confidence in your attachment to the cause of liberty 
and your country, we now transmit to you the enclosed address, 
and desire you will deliver it to the sachem of the Mohawk 
tribe, to be conmiunicated to the rest of the Six Nations ; and 
that you will use your influence with them to join with us in 
the defence of our rights ; but if you cannot prevail with them 
to take an active part in this glorions cause, that you will at 
least engage them to stand neuter, and not by any means to 
aid and assist our enemies : and as we are at a loss for the 
name of the sachem of the Mohawk tribe, we have left it to you 
to direct the address to him, in such way as you may think pro- 
per." 

There were at that time dwelling at Stockbridge, in the 
western part of Massachusetts, a remnant of the Mohickanders, 
or " River Indians " as they were usually called during the 
greater portion of the last century, but latterly Stockbridge In- 
dians, from their locality. These Indians were the remains of 
the Muhhekaneew* of the Hudson river, at the time of the dis- 
covery. They came originally, according to their own tradi- 
tions, from the far West — even beyond the great lakes. That 
such was their original location is supported by the fact, that 
their language was radically different from that of the Narra- 
gansetts and New England Indians generally, and also from 
the language of the Five Nations. Its affinities were- allied to 
the Shawanese and Chippewa, affording farther evidence that 
they had emigrated from the West, crossing the country of the 
Delawares, and establishing themselves on the banks of the Hud- 
son, or Mohickannittuck as the North River was called. They 
were a powerful tribe at the time of the discovery, numbering 
a thousand warriors, and inhabiting the country between the 

* This is the orthography of Dr. Edwards, who was long a missionary among 
them at Stoclibridge. Heckewelder says their proper name was Mahicanni. It is 
one of the most difficult things in the world to arrive at any thing like system or 
certainty in regard to Indian names of persons, places, or things. For instance, 
the author has papers before him at the time of writing, in which the River Indians 
are called Moheagans, Mourigans, or Mahingans, (French,) Mahickanders, (Dutch,) 
Mohiccmis, (English,) Mohuccans, Mahickinders, Sckaticooks, Wabingas, Muhheak- 
unnuks, and the Moheakounucks ; indeed, it has been the practice of writers of dif- 
ferent, and of even the same nations, to spell more by the ear than by rule, until oiir 
Indian names have been involved in almost inextricable confusion. 



1775.1 THE RIVER INDIANS. 57 

Upper Delaware and the Hudson, together with portions of 
territory now inchided in Massachusetts and Vermont. They 
dwelt mostly in little towns and villages, their chief seat being 
the site of the present city of Albany— called by them Pempo- 
towwuthut-Muhhecanneuw, or the Fire-placeof the Nation. Be- 
coming feeble and dispersed as the white population increased 
around and among them— although their numbers had been 
partially recruited by refugees from the Narragansetts and 
Pequods, on the conquest of those nations— the Muhhekaneew 
were collected together at Stockbridge, in 1736, under the care 
of the Rev. John Sergeant, who, and his son after him, were 
long the spiritual guides of the tribe. They were ever faUhful 
to the English, having been actively employed by General 
Shirley to range the country between Lake George and Mon- 
treal, during the French war ending in the conquest of Ca- 
nada.* 



in re- 
The 



* Brown, in his pamphlet History of Schoharie, gives a singular tradition 
oavd to the kin-s of the Mohawks, of which I have found no other mention. 
Mohawks and°River Indians were once bitter enemies, the former becoming the 
scourge and terror of the latter. Brown states that the last battle between the Mo- 
hegan's and Mohawks took place on Wanton Island, in the Hudson River, not far 
from CatskiU. The question between them was, which should have the honour ot 
namin- their king, or which should have the preference in the kingly honours Both 
nation^collected their utmost strength upon that island, for the purpose of a final 
decision and fought a pitched battle, which continued during the whole day. 1 o- 
ward niUt the Mohawks, finding that the Mohegans were likely to prove an over- 
match foT them, deemed it necessary to resort to stratagem, for which purpose they 
suddenly took to flight, and gained another island in the evening. 1 hey here 
kindled a great number of fires, and spread their blankets on some bushes, gathered 
and disposed around them for that purpose, as though they themselves had encamped 
by their fires as usual. The Mohegans following on, landed upon the island ,n the 
depth of ni<^ht, and were completely taken in by the deception. Supposing that the 
Mohawks were sleeping soundly beneath their blankets, after their fatigue the Mo- 
hegans crept up with the greatest silence, and pouring a heavy fire upon the blank- 
ets° rushed upon them with knives and tomahawks in hand, making the air to nng 
with their veils as they fell to cutting and slashing the blankets and bushes instead 
of Indians beneath them. Just at the moment of their greatest confusion and exul- 
tation the Mohawks, who had been lying in ambush flat upon the ground at a little 
distance, poured a murderous fire upon their foes, whose figures were rendered dis- 
tinctly visible by the light of their fires, and rushing impetuously upon them, killed 
the "reater part and made prisoners of the residue. A treaty was then concluded, 
bv which the Mohawks were to have the king, and the Mohegans were to hold them 
in reverence and call them " Uncle." Hendrick was the king first named such by 
the Mohawks, after this decisive victory, « who lived to a great age," says Brown, 
" and was killed at the battle of Lake George under Sir William Johnson."-^u<Aor. 



58 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

The relations of the Stockbridge Indians with the Oneidas 
had become intimate, and it is very possible that the negotiations 
had even then commenced between the two tribes, which a few 
years afterward resulted in the removal of the Stockbridge In- 
dians to the Oneida. Be that, however, as it may, when the 
troubles began to thicken, the Provincial Congress of Massa- 
chusetts sent a message to the Stockbridge Indians, apprising 
them of the gathering tempest, and expressing a desire to culti- 
vate a good understanding between them. The Indians, in 
return, dispatched Captain Solomon Ahhaunnauwaumut, their 
chief sachem, to the Congress, to make a reply, and on the 11th 
of April he delivered the following speech : 

" Brothers : We have heard you speak by your letter — we 
thank you for it — we now make answer. 

" Brothers : You remember when you first came over the 
great waters, I was great and you was little, very small. I then 
took you in for a friend, and kept you under my arms, so that 
no one might injure you ; since that time we have ever been true 
friends ; there has never been any quarrel between us. But 
now our conditions are changed. You are become great and 
tall. You reach to the clouds. You are seen all around the 
world, and I am become small, very little. I am not so high 
as your heel. Now you take care of me, and I look to you for 
protection. 

" Brothers : I am sorry to hear of this great quarrel be- 
tween you and Old England. It appears that blood must soon 
be shed to end this quarrel. We never till this day understood 
the foundation of this quarrel between you and the country 
you came from. 

" Brothers : Whenever I see your blood running, you will 
soon find me about to revenge my. brother's blood. Although 
I am low and very small, I will gripe hold of your enemy's 
heel, that he cannot run so fast, and so light, as if he had no- 
thing at his heels. 

" Brothers : You know I am not so wise as you Are, there- 
fore I ask your advice in what I am now going to say. I have 
been thinking, before you come to action, to take a run to the 
westward, and feel the mind of my Indian brethren, the Six 
Nations, and know how they stand— whether they are on your 



1775.] STOCKBRIDGE AND ONEIDAS. 59 

side or for your enemies. If I find they are against you, I 
will try to turn their minds. I think they will listen to me, for 
they have always looked this way for advice, concerning all 
important news that comes from the rising of the sun. If they 
hearken to me, you will not be afraid of any danger behind 
you. However their minds are affected, you shall soon know 
by me. Now I think I can do you more service in this way, 
tlian by marching off immediately to Boston, and staying there ; 
it may be a great while before blood runs.* Now, as I said, you 
are wiser than I ; I leave this for your consideration, whether I 
come down immediately or wait till I hear some blood is spilled. 

" Brothers ■ I would not have you think by this that we 
are falling back from our engagements. We are ready to do 
any thing for your relief, and shall be guided by your counsel. 

" Brothers : One thing I ask of you, if you send for me 
to fight, that you will let me fight in my own Indian way. I 
am not used to fight English fashion, therefore you must not 
expect I can train like your men. Only point out to me where 
your enemies keep, and that is all I shall want to know." 

Two days afterward the Congress directed the following re- 
ply to be made to the Moheakounnuck tribe, through their 
chieftain : 

"Brothers: We this day, by the delegate from Stock- 
bridge, first heard of your friendly answer to our speech to you 
by Captain William Goodrich, which answer we are told you 
made to us immediately by a letter, which we have not yet re- 
ceived. We now reply : 

"Brothers: You say that you were once great, but that 
you are now little ; and that we were once little and are now 
great. The Supreme Spirit orders these things. Whether we 
are little or great, let us keep the path of friendship clear, which 
our fathers made, and in which we have both travelled to this 
time. The friends of the wicked counsellors of our King fell 
upon us, and shed some blood soon after we spake to you last 
by letter. But we, with a small twig, killed so many, and 

* A company of minute-men, composed of the Stockbridge Indians, was organ- 
ized by the Massachusetts Congress before the battle of Lexington. They were 
retained in service some time after the war began, and came down and joined the 
camp at Cambridge.— «S?parts. 



60 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

frightened them so much, that they have shut themselves up in 
our great town, called Boston, which they have made strong. 
We have now made our hatchets, and all our instruments of 
war, sharp and bright. All the chief counsellors, who live on 
this side the great water, are sitting in the grand Council 
House in Philadelphia ; when they give the word, we shall all 
as one man, fall on, and drive our enemies out of their strong 
fort, and follow them till they shall take their hands out of our 
pouches, and let us sit in our council-house, as we used to do, 
and as our fathers did in old times. 

"Brothers: Though you are small, yet you are wise. 
Use your wisdom to help us. If you think it best, go and 
smoke your pipe with your Indian brothers toward the setting 
of the sun, and tell them of all you hear and all you see ; and 
let us know what their wise men say. If some of your young 
men should have a mind to see what we are doing, let them 
come down and tarry among our warriors. We will provide 
for them while they are here. 

" Brothers : When you have any trouble, come and tell it 
to us, and we will help you," 

" To Captain Solomon Ahhaunnauwaumtit, chief Sachem of 
the Moheakounniick Indians." 

These documents have been thus incidentally introduced, 
not only as being connected with the main history, and also as 
being interesting in themselves, but in justice to Guy Johnson ; 
since, in regard to his own measures of defensive preparation, 
he is entitled to the benefit of all the facts, going to warrant his 
suspicions that an extraneous influence was exerting over the 
subjects of his general superintendency ; and it can hardly be 
supposed that he was kept altogether in ignorance, either of 
the correspondence with Mr. Kirkland or of that with the Stock- 
bridge Indians, through whom, probably, the Bostonians were 
at the same time holding intercourse with the Six Nations. 
These circumstances could not but awaken a lively jealousy, in 
regard to the movements of the white people among the In- 
dians under his charge, and especially in regard to Mr. Kirk- 
land. Accordingly, although in the month of February the 
superintendent had not been able to effect the removal of Mr. 
Kirkland from his station among the Oneidas, he nevertheless 



1775.] STOCKBRIDGK AND ONEIDAS, 61 

accomplished that object in the course of the Spring, as appears 
by a letter from the missionary himself, addressed from Cherry 
Valley to the Albany Committee : 

Mr. Kirkland to the Committee of Albany. 

" Cherry Valley, Jan. 9, 1775. 
" Gentlemen, 

" I am much embarrassed at present. You have doubtless 
heard that Colonel Johnson has orders from Government to 
remove the dissenting missionaries from the Six Nations, till 
the difficulties between Great Britain and the Colonies are set- 
tled ; in consequence of which he has forbidden my return to 
tny people at Oneida. He has since given encouragement that 
I may revisit them after the Congress is closed ; but to be plain, 
I have no dependence at all on his promises of this kind. He 
appears unreasonably jealous of me, and has forbidden my 
speaking a word to the Indians, and threatened me with con- 
finement if I transgress. All he has against me I suppose to 
be a suspicion that I have interpreted to the Indians the doings 
of the Continental Congress, which has undeceived them, and 
too much opened their eyes for Colonel Johnson's purposes. I 
confess to you, gentlemen, that I have been guilty of this, if it 
be a transgression. The Indians found out that I had received 
the abstracts of said Congress, and insisted upon knowing the 
contents. I could not deny them, notwithstanding my cloth, 
though in all other respects I have been extremely cautious not 
to meddle in matters of a political nature. I apprehend that 
my interpreting the doings of the Congress to a number of 
their sachems, has done more real good to the cause of the 
country, or the cause of truth and justice, than five hundred 
pounds in presents would have effected." 

Mr. Kirkland no doubt spoke the honest truth in this letter. 
His influence was great among the Oneidas, and deservedly so. 
Hence, had he undertaken the task, he might, beyond all 
doubt, and easily, have persuaded the Indians of his forest- 
charge to espouse the cause of the Colonies. But he did no 
such thing ; or, at least, he avoided the exertion of any farther 
influence than to persuade them to the adoption of a neutral 
policy. This determination, probably, was an act of their 
own volition, after listening to the interpretation of the pro- 



62 LIFE OP BRANT. [1775. 

ceedings of Congress. It was made known to the people of 
New England by the following address, transmitted by the 
Oneidas to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, with a request 
that he would cause it to be communicated to the four New 
England Colonies : 

The Oneida Indians to Governor Trumbull. 

" As my younger brothers of the New England Indians, who 
have settled in our vicinity, are now going down to visit their 
friends, and to move up parts of their families that were left 
behind — with this belt by them, I open the road wide, clearing 
it of all obstacles, that they may visit their friends and return 
to their settlements here in peace. 

" We Oneidas are induced to this measure on account of the 
disagreeable situation of affairs that way ; and we hope, by the 
help of God, they may return in peace. We earnestly recom- 
mend them to your charity through their long journey. 

" Now we more immediately address you, our brother, the 
Governor, and the chiefs of New England. 

" Brothers : We have heard of the unhappy differences 
and great contention between you and Old England. We 
wonder greatly, and are troubled in our minds. 

" Brothers : Possess your minds in peace respecting us In- 
dians. We cannot intermeddle in this dispute between two 
brothers. The quarrel seems to be unnatural. You are two 
brothers of one blood. We are unwilling to join on either 
side in such a contest, for we bear an equal affection to both you 
Old and New England. Should thegreat king of England apply 
to us for aid, we shall deny him ; if the Colonies apply, we 
shall refuse. The present situation of you two brothers is new 
and strange to us. We Indians cannot find, nor recollect in the 
traditions of our ancestors, the like case, or a similar instance. 

" Brothers : For these reasons possess your minds in peace, 
and take no umbrage that we Indians refuse joining in the 
contest. We are for peace. 

" Brothers : Was it an alien, a foreign nation, who had 
struck you, we should look into the matter. We hope, through 
the wise government and good pleasure of God, your distresses 
may be soon removed and the dark clouds be dispersed. 

" Brothers : As we have declared for peace, we desire you 



1775.] LETTER TO THE ONEIDAS. 63 

will not apply to our Indian brethren in New Ens^land for their 
assistance. Let us Indians be all of one mind, and live with 
one another ; and you white people settle your own disputes 
between yourselves. 

" Brothers : We have now declared our minds ; please to 
write to us. that we may know yours. We. the sachems and war- 
riors, and female governesses of Oneida^ send ourlove to you, 
brother governor, and all the other chiefs in New England."* 

Of an Indian foe the inhabitants of Tryon County enter- 
tained a special dread. In the communication of the Palatine 
Coimiiittee to that of Albany, therefore, cited a few pages 
back, it was suggested whether it would not be expedient to 
prevent the sending of powder and ammunition into the Mo- 
hawk Valley, unless consigned to the Committee, to be sold under 
their inspection. In conclusion, the Committee declared, that, 
although few in number, they were determined to let the world 
see who were, and who were not, attached to the cause of Ame- 
rican liberty ; and they closed by avowing their fixed deter- 
mination, " to carry into execution every thing recommended 
" by the Continental Congress, and to be free or die." 

Three days after making this communication to their Albany 
brethren, that is to say on the 21st of May, the question 
whether Guy Johnson was or was not tampering with the In- 
dians in anticipation of hostilities, was solved by an inter- 
cepted communication from Thayendanegea to the chiefs of the 
Oneida tribe. The letter, written in the Mohawk language, 
was found in an Indian path, and was supposed to have been 
lost by one of their runners. The following is a translation, 
being the earliest specimen extant of the composition of Brant. 

" Written at Guy Johnson'' s, May, 1775. 
•'' This is your letter, you great ones or sachems. Guy John- 
son says he will be glad if you get this intelligence, you Onei- 
das, how it goes with him now ; and he is now more certain 

* The translation of this Oneida proclamation of neutrality was made by Mr, 
Kirkland, for Gordon's Histor)' of the Revolution. It was signed by William 
Sunoghfis, Xickldsha Watshaledgh, William Kanaghqmesed, Peter Thayebeare, 
Jimmy Tekayabeare, J^Tickbis Jlghsenbare, i. e. garter; Thomas Yoghtanov)ea,'i. e. 
spreading of the dew ; Mam Ohcnwano, Q^iiedellis .Qgtverondongwas, i. e. breaking 
of the twigs ; Handerebeks Tegahswenkdyen, i. e. a belt (of wampum) extended ; 
Jolmko'' Skeatiendon, Thomas Teondeatha, i. e. a fallen tree, 

13 



64 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

concerning the intention of the Boston people. Guy Johnson 
is in great fear of being taken prisoner by the Bostonians. We 
Mohawks are obliged to watch him constantly. Therefore we 
send you this intelligence, that you shall know it ; and Guy 
Johnson assures himself, and depends upon your coming to his 
assistance, and that you will without fail be of that opinion. 
He believes not that you will assent to let him suffer. We 
therefore expect you in a couple of days time. So much at 
present. We send but so far as to you Oneidas, but afterward 
perhaps to all the other nations. We conclude, and expect that 
you will have concern about our ruler, Guy Johnson, because 
we are all united. 

" (Signed) " Aren Kannenzaron, 

" Johannes Tegarihoge, 
" Deyagodeaghnaweagh." 

" Joseph Brant 

" Guy Johnson^s Interpreter.^^ 

The surface of this intercepted despatch discloses nothing 
more than a desire, on the part of Guy Johnson, to strengthen 
his domestic forces for the protection of his person, in the event 
of any attempt to seize and carry him away. But the inhabit- 
ants allowed him no credit for sincerity. Information had 
been received from Canada, through the emissaries sent thither 
by the revolutionary leaders in Massachusetts, that secret agents 
of the Crown had been sent among the Six Nations, to stir them 
up against the Colonies.* Hence the correspondence of the 
Massachusetts Congress with Mr. Kirkland and the Indians, 
already given ; and hence, also, the increasing apprehension of 
the people, that the Indians were to be inflamed and let loose 
upon them. Such, consequently, was their distrust of Johnson, 
that they neither believed there was any design against his per- 
son, nor that he was laboring under any apprehension of the 
kind. There is no reason to doubt, however, that Guy John- 
son did feel his position to be critical. General Schuyler had 
his eye upon him ; and, beyond question, his every motion was 
so closely watched as to make him feel very uncomfortable.! 

* Sparks. 

t " Watch the movements of the Indian agent, Colonel Guy Johnson, and prevent, 
so far as you can, the effect of his influence, to our prejudice, with the Indians."— 
Letter from Washington to Gen. Scliuyter, June, 1775. 



1775.] COL. GXJY JOHNSON. 65 

Evidence, indisputable, that such was the fact, is afforded in 
the correspondence annexed. The following letter was ad- 
dressed, at about the same time, by Guy Johnson to the magis- 
trates of the Upper Mohawk settlements : — 

" Guy Park, May 20th, 1775, 
" Gentlemen, 

" I have lately had repeated accounts that a body of New 
Englanders, or others, were to come to seize and carry away 
my person and attack our family, under colour of malicious 
insinuations that I intended to set the Indians upon the people. 
Men of sense and character know that my office is of the 
highest importance to promote peace amongst the Six Nations, 
and prevent their entering into any such disputes. This I ef- 
fected last year, when they were much vexed about the attack 
made upon the Shawanese, and I last winter appointed them to 
meet me this month to receive the answer of the Virginians. 
All men must allow, that if the Indians find their council fire 
disturbed, and their superintendent insulted, they will take a 
dreadful revenge. It is therefore the duty of all people to pre 
vent this, and to satisfy any who may have been imposed on, 
that their suspicions, and the allegations they have collected 
against me, are false, and inconsistent with my character and 
office. I recommend this to you as highly necessary at this 
time, as my regard for the interest of the country, and self-pre- 
servation, has obliged me to fortify my house, and keep men 
armed for my defence, till these idle and ridiculous reports are 
removed. 

" You may lay this letter before such as are interested in 
these matters. 

" I am. Gentlemen, 

" Your Humble Servant, 
" To the magistrates and others " G. Johnson." 

of Palatine, Canajoharie, and 

the Upper Districts."* 

In view of these letters — the intercepted despatch from Jo- 
seph Brant and others to the Oneidas, and Johnson's letter to 
the Committee — the latter body adopted a series of resolu- 

* This letter is transcribed from the original la the author's possession. 



66 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

tions, renewing their expressions of sympathy for the suffer- 
ings of their brethren in Massachusetts and the other Colonies; 
declaring their approbation of the proceedings of the New 
England Colonies in the existing crisis ; denouncing the con- 
duct of Colonel Johnson in keeping an armed force constantly 
about him, and stopping travellers upon the King's highway, 
" as arbitrary, illegal, oppressive, and unwarrantable :" and de- 
claring their determination " never to submit to any arbitrary 
" acts of any power under heaven, or to any illegal and unwar- 
" rantable action of any man or set of men " whatever. 

In addition to the before-mentioned intercepted letter, it was 
ascertained that already expresses had actually been sent to the 
upper tribes of the Six Nations, to invite them down to Guy 
Johnson's house. His own domestic army amounted to five 
hundred men, and he had now cut off all free communication 
between the upper Mohawk settlements and Albany. And al- 
though the districts of Palatine, Canajoharie, and the German 
Flatts were sanctioning the proceedings of the Continental 
Congress with much unanimity, they were in a great measure 
unarmed and destitute of ammunition — not having more than 
fifty pounds of powder in the districts. Under these circum- 
stances, the Committee wrote an urgent letter to Albany, repre- 
senting their situation, and suggesting whether it might not be 
expedient to open the communication through the lower dis- 
tricts of the valley by force. They also advised the sending of 
two trusty messengers, well acquainted with the Indian lan- 
guage, to the upper nations, to dissuade them, if possible, from 
obeying the summons of Guy Johnson, and to enlighten them 
in respect of the true nature and causes of the quarrel with the 
King's government. 

This letter was despatched by express, and the Albany Com- 
mittee repUed on the following day, advising their friends of 
the upper districts that they had no ammunition to spare, and 
dissuading them from any attempt to re-open the communica- 
tion by force. That project was accordingly abandoned ; but 
the Committee sent four of its members to Albany, to gain 
information as to the condition of the country generally, and 
with instructions to procure a quantity of powder and lead — 
the Committee holding itself responsible for the purchase mo- 
ney. Meantime they pushed their measures of internal orga- 



1775.] SPIRIT OF THK PEOPLE. 67 

nization with great energy and success, establishing sub-com- 
mittees wherever it was expedient, and assuming the exercise of 
legislative, judicial, and executive powers. Secret articles for 
mutual succour and defence were prepared, and very generally 
signed by the Whigs ; and threats having been uttered by Guy 
Johnson, that unless the Committees desisted from the course 
they were pursuing, he would seize and imprison certain of 
their number, they solemnly bound themselves to rescue any 
who might thus be arrested, by force, " unless such persons 
" should be confined by legal process, issued upon a legal 
" ground, and executed in a legal manner." 

It is here worthy, not only of special note, but of all admira- 
tion, how completely and entirely these border-men held them- 
selves amenable, in the most trying exigencies, to the just 
execution of the laws. Throughout all their proceedings, the 
history of the Tryon Committees will show that they were 
governed by the purest dictates of patriotism, and the highest 
regard to moral principle. Unlike the rude inhabitants of 
most frontier settlements, especially under circumstances when 
the magistracy are, from necessity, almost powerless, the fron- 
tier patriots of Tryon County were scrupulous in their devotion 
to the supremacy of the laws. Their leading men were like- 
wise distinguished for their intelligence ; and while North 
Carolina is disputing whether she did not in fact utter a 
declaration of independence before it was done by Congress, by 
recurring to the first declaration of the Palatine Committee, 
noted in its proper place, the example may almost be said to 
have proceeded from the Valley of the Mohawk. 

Simultaneously with his letter to the magistracy of the up- 
per districts, Guy Johnson had despatched another of the same 
purport, but entering more into detail, to the Mayor, Aldermen, 
and Commonalty of the cities of Albany and Schenectady, of 
which the following is a copy. The date is wanting :— ^ * 

"Gentlemen, 

" As the peace and happiness of the country are objects which 
every good man should have at heart. I think it highly neces- 
sary to acquaint you that for a few days I have been put to the 
great trouble and expense of fortifying my house, and keeping 
a large body of men for the defence of my person, 6cc. ; having 



68 LIFE OP BRANT. [1775. 

received repeated accounts that either the New Englanders, or 
some persons in or about the city of Albany or town of Sche- 
nectady, are coming up, to a considerable number, to seize and 
imprison me on a ridiculous and malicious report that I intend 
to make the Indians destroy the inhabitants, or to that effect. 
The absurdity of this apprehension may easily be seen by men 
of sense ; but as many credulous and ignorant persons may be 
led astray, and inclined to believe it, and as they have already 
sent down accounts, examinations, &.c. from busy people here, 
that I can fully prove to be totally devoid of all foundation, it 
has become the duty of all those who have authority or influ- 
ence, to disabuse the public, and prevent consequences which I 
foresee with very great concern, and most cordially wish may 
be timely prevented. Any difference in political ideas can ne- 
ver justify such extreivagant opinions ; and I little imagined that 
they should have gained belief amongst any order of people, 
who know my character, station, and the large property T have 
in the country, and the duties of my office, which are to pre- 
serve tranquility among the Indians, hear their grievances, &c. 
and prevent them from falling upon the trade and frontiers. 
These last were greatly threatened by the Indians, on account 
of the disturbances last year between the Virginians and the 
Shawanese, during which my endeavours prevented, the Six 
Nations from taking a part that would have possibly affected 
the public ; and I appointed last Fall that the Six Nations sliould 
come to me this month, in order to receive, amongst other 
things, final satisfaction concerning the lands said to be invaded 
by the Virginians, who have now sent me their answer. In the 
discharge of this duty, I likewise essentially served the public ; 
but should I neglect myself and be tamely made prisoner, it is 
clear to all who know any thing of Indians, they will not sit still 
and see their council fire extinguished, and superintendent dri- 
' ven ^iitn his duty, but will come upon the frontiers in revenge, 
with a power sufficient to commit horrid devastation. It is, 
therefore, become as necessary to the public as to myself, that 
my person should be defended ; but as the measures I am ne- 
cessitated to take for that purpose may occasion the propagation 
of additional falsehoods, and may at last appear to the Indians 
in a light that is not for the benefit of the fiiblic, I should 
heartily wish, gentlemen, that you could take such measures 



1775.] COL. GUY JOHNSON. 69 

for removing these apprehensions, as may enable me to dis- 
charge my duties, (which do not interfere with the pubhc,) 
without the protection of armed men and the apprehension of 
insult ; and as the public are much interested in this, I must 
beg to have your answer as soon as possible. 
" I am, Gentlemen, 

" Your most humble Servant, 

" G. Johnson."* 

" To the Magistrates and Committee 
of Schenectady, and to the Mayor, 
Corporation, &.c. of Albany. To 
be forwarded by the former." 

To this letter the municipality of Albany promptly replied, 
expressing their conviction that the reports were utterly ground- 
less, and that they had been originated for the purpose ot 
awakening hostile feelings in the minds of the Indians. They 
also gave the Colonel an admonitory hint that he need be ap- 
prehensive of no indignity upon his person, or injury to his 
property, so long as he studied to promote the peace and wel- 
fare of the country, by executing his duties as superintendent 
of the Indians " with an honest heart." In conclusion, they 
exhorted him to use all means in his power to tranquilize the 
Indians, by assuring them that the reports were without any 
just foundation, and '' that nothing would afford his Majesty's 
" subjects in general a greater satisfaction than to be, and con- 
" tinue with them, on the strictest terms of peace and friendship." 

On the whole, however, there is no good reason to doubt 
that Guy Johnson was, in reality, apprehensive of a clandestine 
visit from the Yankees, and possibly of an abduction. The 
great influence of his official station, and his equivocal conduct, 
had created universal distrust ; and the affair of th^' Tea 
Party " had taught the loyalists, that the Bostonians Were as 
adroit and fearless in stratagem as in deeds of open daring and 
bold emprise. Before the receipt of the preceding letters, more- 
over, it was well understood that he had arrested and searched 
the persons of two New Englanders, suspicious, as it was 

* This letter has been copied from the original, found by the author amongtheold 
papers in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany. 



70 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

inferred, and probably not without reason, that they had been 
despatched on a mission to the Indians, with whom it was 
poUcy to prevent any connnunication, save through his own 
interposition. Nor cou.d ne be ignorant of the fact, that at that 
critical conjuncture, the possession of his person might be of 
as much consequence to those who were on the verge of 
rebelhon, as of detriment to the service in which his predilec- 
tions would probably induce him to engage 



CHAPTER IV. 



Council of the Mohawk chiefs at Guy Park — A second council called by Johnson 
at Cosby's Manor — Proceeds thither with his retinue — First full meeting of Tryon 
County Committee — Correspondence with Guy Johnson — No council held — 
Johnson proceeds farther West, accompanied by his family and most of the In- 
dians — Consequent apprehensions of the people — Communication from Massa- 
chusetts Congress— Ticonderoga and Crown Point taken by Ethan Allen — Skenes- 
borough and St. Johns surprised — Farther proceedings in Massacliusetts — Battle 
of Bunker Hill — Death of Warren — Council with the Oneidas and Tuscaroras at 
German Fialts — Speech to the Indians — Subsequent council with the Oneidas — 
Conduct of the people toward Guy Johnson — Speech to, and reply of Oneidas — 
Guy Johnson moves westwardly to Ontario — His letter to the Provincial Congress 
of New- York — Holds a great Indian council at the West — Unfavourable influence 
upon tlie dispositions of the Indians — Causes of their partiahty for the English — 
Great, but groundless alarm of tiie people — Guy Johnson, with Brant and the 
Indian warriors, descends the St. Lawrence to Montreal — Council there — Sir Guy 
Carloton and Gen. Haldimand complete the work of winning the Indians over to 
the cause of the Crown. 

A COUNCIL of the Mohawk chiefs was held at Guy Park,* 
on the 25th of May, which was attended by delegates from Al- 
bany and Tryon Counties. The records of this council are 
very scanty and unsatisfactory. The principal chief of the 
Mohawk tribe at that time was Little Abrahamt — a brother 
of the famous Hendrick who fell at Lake George, in the year 
1775. The council having been opened for business, Little 
Abraham addressed them as follows : — 

" He said he was glad to meet them, and to hear the reports 
concerning taking Guy Johnson, their superintendent, were 
false. That the Indians do not wish to have a quarrel with the 
nihabitants. That during Sir William Johnson's lifetime, and 
since, we have been peaceably disposed ; that the Indians are 
alarmed on account of the reports that our powder was stopped. 
We get our things from the superintendent. If we lived as 
you do, it would not be so great a loss. If our ammunition is 
stopped, we shall distrust you. We are pleased to hear you say, 
you will communicate freely, and we will at all times listen to 
what you say in presence of our superintendent." 

* Guy Park : a beautiful situation immediately on the bank of the Mohawk. 
The elegant stone mansion is yet upon the premises, giving the best evidences of 
substantial building. 

t Little Abraham seems rather to have been a leading chief at the Lower Castle 
of tlie Mohawks— not the principal War Chief. 

14 



72 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

Af'.er a coiisultalion with each other, the deputations from 
the iwo County Committees replied, in substance, that " They 
were glad to hev them expressing a desire to maintain the an- 
cient friendship which Iiad subsisted between their fathers, 
"^rhey assured t!; ; chiefs that the reports of evil designs against 
iheir superintendent were false. They farther promised the 
chiefs, that whenever they had any business to transact with 
them, they would meet them at their own council fires, and in 
presence of their superintendent." 

To which the Mohawk speaker responded to the following 
effect : — 

" The Indians are glad that you are not surprised that we 
cahnct spare Col. Johnson. The love we have for the memory 
of Sir William Johnson, and the obligations the whole Six Na- 
tions are under to ^ .m, must make us regard and protect every 
branch of his family. We will explain these things to all the 
Indians, and hope you will do the same to your people." 

This council having been but thinly attended, and only by 
one tribe of the Indians, the superintendent immediately direct- 
ed the assembling of another in the western part of the county, 
to attend which he proceeded to the German Flatts, with his 
whole fannly and retinue. His quarters were at the house of 
a Mr. Thompson, on Cosby's manor, a few miles above the 
flatts. It has been alleged that this second council was con- 
voked because of the superintendent's dissatisfaction with the 
first — a conclusion not unlikely, from the absence of the west- 
tern Indians, who had been invited. 

On the 2d of June there was, for the first time, a full meet- 
ing of the Tryon County Committee — the loyalists having 
previously prevented the attendance of delegates from the 
lower, or Mohawk district.* This Committee addressed a 
strong and patriotic letter to the superintendent, formally noti- 

* It may be interesting to some to give the names of this body of men, who had 
so often professed their willingness to peril their lives and property in defence of the 
liberties of their country. (From Palatine distiict) — Christopher P. Yates, John 
Frey, Andrew Fink, Andrew Reeber, Peter Waggoner, Daniel McDougal, Jacob 
Klock, George Ecker, Jun., Harmanus Van Slyck, Cluistopher W. Fox, Anthony 
Van Veghten. (Canajoharie district) — Nicholas Herkimer, Ebenezer Cox, William 
Seeber, John Moore, Samuel Campbell, Samuel Clyde, Thomas Henry, John 
Pickard. (Kingsland and Gciman Flatts districts)— Edward Wall, William 



1775.J COL. GUV JOHNSOX. 73 

fying him of the purposes of their organization. After 
adverting to the oppressions of the mother country, in repeat- 
ed attempts to enforce unconstitutional enactments oi Parlia- 
ment, and asserting their principles on the subject of taxation 
without representation— principles which they declared to be 
undeniable — they avowed their object to be, to consult as to the 
best methods of saving the country from devastation and ruin ; 
•'•' which object, with the assistance of Divine Providence, it 
••' was their fixed determination and resohition to accomplish ;" 
adding, with emphasis, " and if called upon, we shall be fore- 
'•' most ill sharing the toil and danger of the field." They 
once more adverted to the distressed situation of the people of 
New England in the common cause ; and declared that they 
should be wanting in rhity to their country and to themselves, 
were they longer to refrain from announcing their determina- 
tion to the world. After repelling the charges promulgated 
against them, of having compelled people to join their (Com- 
mittees, and of having drunk treasonable toasts, they proceeded 
to discuss matters more directly personal to the superintendent 
himself The following is an extract from this portion of the 
letter : — 

" We are not ignorant of the very great importance of your 
office as superintetident of the Indians, and therefore it is no 
more our duty than inclination to protect you in the discharge 
of the duty of your proper province ; and we meet you with 
pleasure in behalf of ourselves and our constituents, to thank 
yon for meeting the Indians in the upper parts of the County, 
which may be the means of easing the people of the remainder 
of their fears on this account, and prevent the Indians com- 
mitting irregularities on their way down to Guy Park. And 
we beg of you to use your endeavours with the Indians, to dis- 
suade them from interfering in the dispute with the mother 
country and the Colonies. We cannot think that, as you and 
your family possess very large estates in this County, you are 

Petry, John Petry, Augustine Hess, Frederick Orendorf, George Wentz, Michael 
Ittig, Frederick Fox, George Herkiirier, Duncan McDougal, Frederick Helmer, 
John Frink. (Mohawk district)— John Morlett, John Bliven, Abraham Van 
Home, Adam Fonda, Frederick Fisher, Sampson Sammons, William Schuyler, 
Volkert Veeder, James McMaster, Daniel Line— 42. Christopher P. Yates was 
chosen chairman of tliis body. — CampbeWs Annals. 



74 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

unfavourable to American freedom, although you may differ 
with us in the mode of obtaining a redress of grievances. 
Permit us farther to observe, that we cannot pass over in si- 
lence the interruption which the people of the Mohawk district 
met in their meeting ; which, we are informed, was conducted in 
a peaceable manner ; and the inhuman treatment of a man, 
whose only crime was being faithful to his employers, and re- 
fusing to give an account of the receipt of certain papers, to 
persons who had not the least colour of right to demand any 
thing of that kind. We assure you that we are much con- 
cerned about it, as two important rights of English subjects are 
thereby infringed — to wit, a right to meet, and to obtain all the 
intelligence in their power." 

Colonel Nicholas Herkimer and Edward AVall were deput- 
ed to deliver the letter to the superintendent, for which purpose 
they proceeded to Cosby's Manor, and discharged their trust. 
The following was Colonel Johnson's reply — manly and direct ; 
and with which, if sincere, certainly no fault could be found, 
bating the lack of courtesy in its commencement : — 

" Thot7ipso7i's, Cosby's Manor, June 5th, 1775. 
" Gentlemen, 

" I have received the paper signed Chris. P. Yates, Chair- 
man, on behalf of the districts therein mentioned, which I am 
now to answer, and shall do it briefly, in the order you have 
stated matters. As to the letter from some Indians to the 
Oneidas, I really knew nothing of it till I heard such a thing 
had been by some means obtained from an Indian messenger, 
and from what I have heard of its contents, I can't see any 
thing materia] in it, or that could justify such idle apprehen- 
sions ; but I must observe that these fears among the people 
were talked of long before, and were, I fear, propagated by some 
malicious persons for a bad purpose. 

" As to your political sentiments, on which you enter in the 
next paragraph, I have no occasion to enter on them or the 
merits of the cause. I desire to enjoy liberty of conscience and 
the exercise of my own judgment, and that all others should 
have the same privilege ; but, with regard to your saying you 
might have postponed the affair, if there had been the least 
kind of probability that the petition of the General Assembly 



1775.] COL. GUY JOHNSON. 75 

would have been noticed, more than that of the delegates, I 
must, as a true friend to the country, in which I have a large 
interest, say, that the present dispute is viewed in different 
lights according to the education and principles of the parties 
affected ; and that, however reasonable it may appear to a con- 
siderable number of honest men here, that the petition of the 
delegates should merit attention, it is not viewed in the same 
light in a country which admits of no authority that is not con- 
stitutionally established ; and I persuade myself you have that 
reverence for his Majesty, that you will pay due regard to the 
royal assurance given in his speech to Parliament, that when- 
ever the American grievances should be laid before him by 
their constitutional assemblies, they should be fully attended 
to. I have heard that compulsory steps were taken to induce 
some persons to come into your measures, and treasonable 
toasts drank ; but I am not willing to give too easy credit to 
flying reports, and am happy to hear you disavow them. 

" I am glad to find my calling a Congress on the frontiers 
gives satisfaction ; this was principally my design, though I 
cannot sufficiently express my surprise at those who have, 
either through malice or ignorance, misconstrued my inten- 
tions, and supposed me capable of setting the Indians on the 
peaceable inhabitants of this country. The interest our family 
has in this country and my own, is considerable, and they 
have been its best benefactors ; any malicious charges, there- 
fore, to their prejudice, are highly injurious, and ought to be 
totally suppressed. 

" The office I hold is greatly for the benefit and protection 
of this country, and on my frequent meetings with the Indians 
depends their peace and security ; I therefore cannot but be 
astonished to find the endeavours made use of to obstruct me 
in my duties, and the weakness of some people in withholding 
many things from me, which are indisputably necessary for 
rendering the Indians contented ; and I am willing to hope 
that yon, gentlemen, will duly consider this and discounte- 
nance the same. 

" You have been much misinformed as to the origin of the 
reports which obliged me to fortify my house and stand on my 
defence. I had it, gentlemen, from undoubted authority from 
Albany, and since confirmed by letters from one of the Com- 



76 LIFE OF BUANT. [1775. 

mittee at Philadelphia, that a large body of men were to make 
me prisoner. As the effect this must have on the Indians 
might have been of dangerous consequences to you, (a circum- 
stance not thought of,) 1 was obliged, at great expense, to take 
these measures. But the many reports of my stopping travel- 
lers were false in every particular, and the only instance of 
detaining any body was in the case of two New England men, 
which I explained fully to those of your body who brought 
your letter, and wherein I acted strictly agreeable to law, and as 
a magistrate should have done. 

'* I am very sorry that such idle and injurious reports meet 
with any encouragement. I rely on you. gentlemen, to exert 
yourselves in discountenancing them; and I am happy in this 
opportunity of assuring the people of a country I regard, that 
they have nothing to apprehend from my endeavours, but that 
I shall always be glad to promote their true interests. 

" I am, Gentlemen, your humble Servant, 

" G. Johnson." 

This reply of Colonel Johnson, together with a written re- 
port of the proceedings of himself and colleague, and their in- 
terview with Johnson, was transmitted to the County Com- 
mittee by Mr. Wall. In his letter to the Committee, Mr. Wall 
indulged in some complaints, in regard to the reprehensible 
conduct of the people — probably toward .Johnson and his follow- 
ers, who were looked upon with increasing distrust. But the 
character of the irregularities complained of is not distinctly 
set forth in Mr. Wall's communication. 

Guy Johnson did not remain long at Cosby's Manor, nor did 
he hold the Indian council there which had been notified, but 
departed immediately farther west. His removal from Thomp- 
son's was thus announced to the Committee of Palatine by Mr. 
Wall, on the 8th of June : — " Our people are greatly alarmed 
" at Colonel Johnson's motions, and cannot understand his rea- 
" sons for the same. We dare say, that before now you have 
" been [made] acquainted that he has removed with his retinue 
" from Mr. Thompson's to Fort Stanwix, and there are rumors 
" that he intends to move yet farther. We leave you to con- 
" jecture what may be his reasons." 

These apprehensions were certainly not unreasonable. For 






1775.] COL. GUY JOHNSON. 77 

although Colonel Johnson's letters were plausible, and apparent- 
ly frank and sincere, when the people saw him setting his face 
thus to the west, and moving up through the valley, not only 
with his own family, but accompanied by a large retinue of his 
dependents and the great body of the Mohawk Indians — who 
left their own delightful country at this time, never more peace- 
ably to return — it is not strange that suspicions, as to his ulte- 
rior designs, were excited. 

This feeling was not diminished by the reception, just at 
this time, of the following communication from the Provincial 
Congress of Massachusetts, through that of New- York : — • 

" In Provincial Congress, 
" Watertoicn, June I3th, 1775. 

" To the Honour able Delegates of the Congress of the Pro- 
vince of NeiD- York : 

"Gentlemen, 
" Considering the exposed state of the frontiers of the Colo- 
nies, the danger that the inhabitants of Canada may possibly 
have disagreeable apprehensions from the military preparations 
making in several of the Colonies, and the rumors that there 
are some appearances of their getting themselves in readiness 
to act in a hostile way — this Congress have made application to 
the Honourable Continental Congress, desiring them to take such 
measures as to them shall appear proper, to quiet and conciliate 
the minds of the Canadians, and to prevent such alarming ap- 
prehensions. We also have had the disagreeable accounts of 
methods taken to fill the minds of the Indian tribes adjacent to 
these Colonies with sentiments very injurious to us ; particu- 
larly we have been informed that Col. Guy Johnson has taken 
great pains with the Six Nations, in order to bring them into a 
belief that it is designed by the Colonies to fall upon them and 
cut them off. We have, therefore, desired the Honourable 
Continental Congress that they would, with all convenient 
speed, use their influence in gua,rding against the evil intended 
by this malevolent misrepresentation ; and we desire you to 
join with us in such application. 

" Jos. Warren, President." 
"Attest, Samuel Freeman, Sec'y." 



80 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

secure their neutrality in the contest ; nor were they wholly 
unsuccessful, although the majority of the Six Nations ulti- 
mately threw themselves into the opposite scale. Disappointed 
in not meeting a fuller and more general council at Guy Park 
in May, a conference was arranged with the Oneidas and Tus- 
caroras, through the agency of their friend, the Rev. Mr. Kirk- 
land, which took place at the German Flatts on the 28th of 
June. The Indians were met hy the inhabitants of that dis- 
trict, and also by a deputation from Albany. The minutes of 
that meeting were not preserved at large among the papers of 
the Tryon County Committee. The following was the address 
of the inhabitants to the Indians : — 

" Brothers : We are glad to have you here to return you 
thanks. We should have been much pleased to have spoken 
with you at the appointed place ; that is, by your superintend 
ent, where of late you kept your council fire ; but since his 
removing so far from us, we do not think it wrong or imprudent 
to communicate our sentiments of peace to you here. It is at 
this place. Brothers, it has often been done ; and here again we 
renew it, and brighten the old chain of peace and brotherly 
love, 

"Brothers : We cannot see the cause of your late council 
fire, or superintendent going away from among us. We did 
him no harm, and you well know that none of us ever did, 
and you may depend on it, there was no such thing meant 
against him. He told our people he was going up to Thomp- 
son's (Cosby's Manor) to hold a council fire with our brothers, 
the Five Nations, there. We helped him to provisions to sup- 
port you there, and every thing we had that he wanted. But 
he is gone away from among us, and told some of our people, 
that he would come back with company which would not 
please us ; which, if true, it is certain his intentions are bad, 
and he may depend, that whatever force he may or can bring, 
we regard not. 

" Brothers : Our present meeting does not arise from any 
unfriendly thoughts we entertain of you, or from any fear of 
ourselves. It is purely on account of the old friendship which 
has so long been kept up between us ; that friendship we want 
to retain. It is that friendship which will be an equal benefit to 
us. It is as much wanted on your side as ours. 



1775.] INDIAN NEGOTIATIONS. 81 

"Brothers : We cannot too much express our satisfaction 
of your conduct toward us by your late proceedings with the 
superintendent at the carrying place, for which we are also 
obliged to you, and do not doubt but that your conduct will be 
blessed with greater benefits than any other of those who will 
hurry themselves into mischief; which can never be of any 
other benefit to them, but sorrow for the innocent blood shed on 
an occasion wherewith they have no concern. 

" Brothers : We look to you particularly to be men of 
more understanding than others, by the benefits you have re- 
ceived in learning ; wherefore we confide and trust more freely 
in you, that you can communicate to the other tribes and na- 
tions the error they want to lead you in, and cannot doubt but 
your wisdom and influence with the other nations will be 
attended with that happy success, which will hereafter be a 
blessing to you and your posterity. 

" Brothers : What we have said is supposed to be sufficient 
to convince you that our meaning is for our joint peace and 
friendship ; in which we hope that we and our children may 
continue to the end of time." 

The answer of the Indians to this address has not been pre- 
served. The result of the council, however, was, to obtain a 
pledge of neutrality from the greater portion of the Indians 
assembled. The efforts of Mr. Kirkland had uniformly been 
directed to the same humane design. 

Colonel Guy Johnson, as we have already seen, had pre- 
viously left the lower district of the Mohawk Valley. He was 
a man of too much discernment, holding the opinions he did, 
to remain at Johnstown an inactive spectator of events, the 
inevitable tendency of which could only be very soon to rouse 
the whole thirteen Colonies to arms against the British power, 
and he had prudently anticipated the battle of Bunker Hill in 
his departure. But his movements had thus far been pacific, 
or rather not openly belligerent; and it is probable that an excit- 
ed and jealous people may not have treated him, during his 
hegira, with all their wonted respect. Indeed, the complaint of 
Mr. Wall, of the objectionable conduct of the people, has al- 
ready been noted at a previous page. But it is not stated in 
what respect they had been offending. Some light, however, 



82 LIFE OF ERANT. [1775 

may perhaps be thrown upon the subject, by the following notes 
of a council between the inhabitants of the Upper, or Kings- 
land district, and the Oneida Indians ; from which it will be 
seen that the inhabitants had cut off the supplies provided by 
Colonel Johnson for his journey :* 
" KiNGSLAND District. Ai a council held upon desire of the 

Oneidas, July \st, 1775, the following speeches ivere deli- 

vered : 

To THE Oneidas. 

" Brothers : The reason of stopping the provisions from 
Mr. Thompson to Colonel Johnson, is, that we suppose him to 
be our enemy ; and for all that he gets as much from Niagara 
as he wants ; and we believe he is only getting intelligence, 
from this place, how matters run. We have done for him and 
his retinue what was in our power for his supply. We believe 
he should have held his council fire at Mr. Thompson's, or, 
furthest, at Fort Stanwix. But you have heard. Brothers, 
that he would bring a force along with him which we would 
not like. That was the reason that we stopped his provisions. 
But on your request, as you think it was not well done, 
we will hear your sentiments about it. Not being laid to your 
or our charge, we shall then let pass all that is brought to him." 
Answer of the Oneidas. 

" Brothers : It is Sunday to-day, and the Lord gave six 
days for work and the seventh for rest. But since occasion 
happens, we give you our positive answer. 

"Brothers: We have consulted about stopping the pro- 
visions at Mr. Thompson's, and we don't think it proper to do it. 
If it should have been for his own use, we should not have 
mentioned it ; but we know that he calls up the Five Nations, 
and may be they will suffer by it. So, therefore, let him have 
it. All that we have said we can be answerable for, but this 
act we cannot. 

" Brothers : If we should assent to these things, we are 
jointly brothers ; we should be left alone, and may be both would 
be disappointed. We are obliged to have a care over our 
brothers of the Five Nations, as well as for you, so that we 

* These notes are quite imperfectly written, by a very incompetent scribe. Tlie 
author has endeavoured to arrive at the true import, preserving as much of the lan- 
guage as possible. 



1775.] FLIGHT OF GUY JOHNSON. 83 

may get no blame afterward for it. Then we don't knoAV what 
Colonel Johnson's design is. Let us first have proof, and as 
soon as we have found out something, we shall assemble to- 
gether and consider of it. 

" Brothers : We ought to do as we want to have done to 
us by others ; and it is better to suffer than to do amiss. 

" Brothers : As long as we are brothers, don't let us then suf- 
fer in provisions, if they are to be got, (without your loss.) While 
we belong to the Five Nations, we shall help one another as 
much as does lie in our power, so that nobody is wronged by it. 

" Brothers : You did leave this to us, though you consent- 
ed not to leave us to bear this burden quite alone upon our own 
shoulders. If you can find a fault in our speech, you may 
speak about it." 

Rejoinder. 

" Broth ers : As we have heard your speech, and well con- 
sidered it, and as we find that our other brothers may suffer 
by it, we are resolved that all the flour and other provision 
which is really brought for Colonel Johnson, may be sent 
thither without being molested. But considering that it may 
not be employed for the use proposed, we desire the favour of 
you to acquaint us of the fact, that we may take the necessary 
measures for our own welfare, 

"Brothers: We are greatly obliged for your brotherly 
love showed to us, and that you have told us, out of the bottom 
of your heart, your sense of this matter. We confess it is an 
evidence of sincere friendship, which we hope will ever be 
maintained between us." 

Making a very brief sojourn at Fort Stanwix, Guy Johnson 
hastened as far west as Ontario, there to hold a grand council 
with the Indians, remote from the white settlements ; and where, 
as he alleged, their action might be independent and unem- 
barrassed by the interference of the Colonists. It was at On- 
tario that he received the letter from the Provincial Congress of 
New- York, already adverted to as having been written at the 
solicitation of the Congress of Massachusetts. He replied to 
it on the 8th of July, in a letter glowing with loyalty, and 
complaining bitterly of the malcontents, and those in opposi- 
tion to regular governments; who, as the reader will ob- 



82 LIFE OF ERANT. [1775 

may perhaps be throAvn upon the subject, by the following notes 
of a council between the inhabitants of the Upper, or Kings- 
land district, and the Oneida Indians ; from which it will be 
seen that the inhabitants had cut off the supphes provided by 
Colonel Johnson for his journey :* 

" KiNGSLAND District. At a council held upon desire of the 
Oneidas, July \st^ 1775, the following speeches were deli- 
vered : 

To THE Oneidas. 
" Brothers : The reason of stopping the provisions from 
Mr. Thompson to Colonel Johnson, is, that we suppose him to 
be our enemy ; and for all that he gets as much from Niagara 
as he wants ; and we believe he is only getting intelligence, 
from this place, how matters run. We have done for him and 
his retinue what was in our power for his supply. We believe 
he should have held his council fire at Mr. Thompson's, or, 
furthest, at Fort Stanwix. But you have heard, Brothers, 
that he would bring a force along with him which we would 
not like. That was the reason that we stopped his provisions. 
But on your request, as you think it was not well done, 
we will hear your sentiments about it. Not being laid to your 
or our charge, we shall then let pass all that is brou ght to him." 
Answer of the Oneidas. 
" Brothers : It is Sunday to-day, and the Lord gave six 
days for work and the seventh for rest. But since occasion 
happens, we give you our positive answer. 

"Brothers: We have consulted about stopping the pro- 
visions at Mr. Thompson's, and we don't think it proper to do it. 
If it should have been for his own use, we should not have 
mentioned it ; but we know that he calls up the Five Nations, 
and may be they will suffer by it. So, therefore, let him have 
it. All that we have said we can be answerable for, but this 
act we cannot. 

" Brothers : If we should assent to these things, we are 
jointly brothers ; we should be left alone, and may be both would 
be disappointed. We are obliged to have a care over our 
brothers of the Five Nations, as well as for you, so that we 

* These notes are quite imperfectly written, by a very incompetent scribe. Tlie 
author has endeavoured to arrive at the true import, preserving as much of the Ian-' 
guage as possible. 



1775.] FLIGHT OF GUY JOHNSON. 83 

may get no blame afterward for it. Then we don't know what 
Colonel Johnson's design is. Let us first have proof, and as 
soon as we have found out something, we shall assemble to- 
gether and consider of it. 

" Brothers : We ought to do as we want to have done to 
us by others ; and it is better to suffer than to do amiss. 

" Brothers : As long as we are brothers, don't let us then suf- 
fer in provisions, if they are to be got, (without your loss.) While 
we belong to the Five Nations, we shall help one another as 
much as does lie in our power, so that nobody is wronged by it. 

" Brothers : You did leave this to us, though you consent- 
ed not to leave us to bear this burden quite alone upon our own 
shoulders. If you can find a fault in our speech, you may 
speak about it." 

Rejoinder. 

" Brothers : As we have heard your speech, and well con- 
sidered it, and as we find that our other brothers may suffer 
by it, we are resolved that all the flour and other provision 
which is really brought for Colonel Johnson, may be sent 
thither without being molested. But considering that it may 
not be employed for the use proposed, we desire the favour of 
you to acquaint us of the fact, that we may take the necessary 
measures for our own welfare. 

"Brothers: We are greatly obliged for your brotherly 
love showed to us, and that you have told us, out of the bottom 
of your heart, your sense of this matter. We confess it is an 
evidence of sincere friendship, which we hope will ever be 
maintained between us." 

Making a very brief sojourn at Fort Stanwix, Guy Johnson 
hastened as far west as Ontario, there to hold a grand council 
with the Indians, remote from the white settlements ; and where, 
as he alleged, their action might be independent and unem- 
barrassed by the interference of the Colonists. It was at On- 
tario that he received the letter from the Provincial Congress ot 
New- York, already adverted to as having been written at the 
solicitation of the Congress of Massachusetts. He replied to 
it on the 8th of July, in a letter glowing with loyalty, and 
complaining bitterly of the malcontents, and those in opposi- 
tion to regular governments ; who, as the reader will ob- 



84 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775 

serve, he again repeated, were exciting the Indians against him. 
The letter is inserted entire : — 

Guy Johnson to Peter Van Brugh Livingston. 
" Ontario, July the 8th, 1775. 
"Sir, 

" Though I received your letter from the Provincial Con- 
gress several days ago, I had not a good opportunity to answer 
it .till now. I suppose, however, this will reach you safe, not- 
withstanding all the rest of my correspondence is interrupted, 
by ignorant impertinents, 

" As to the endeavour you speak of, to reconcile the unhappy 
differences between the Parent State and these Colonies, be as- 
sured I ardently wish to see them ; as yet, I am sorry to say, I 
have not been able to discover any attempt of that kind, but 
that of the assembly, the only true legal representatives of the 
people ; and as to the individuals who you say officiously in- 
terrupt (in my quarter) the mode and measures you think ne- 
cessary for these salutary purposes, I am really a stranger to 
them. If you mean myself, you must have been grossly im- 
posed on. I once, indeed, went, with reluctance, at the request 
of several of the principal inhabitants, to one of the people's 
meetings, which I found had been called by an itinerant New 
England leather-dresser, and conducted by others, if possible, 
more contemptible. I had, therefore, little inclination to revisit 
such men or attend to their absurdities. And, although I did 
not incline to think that you. Gentlemen, had formed any de- 
signs against me, yet it is most certain that such designs were 
formed. Of this I received a clear account by express, from a 
friend near Albany, which was soon corroborated by letters 
from other quarters, particularly one from a gentleman of the 
Committee at Philadelphia, a captain in your levies, who was 
pretty circumstantial ; and since, I have had the like from many 
others. I have, likewise, found that mean instruments were 
officiously employed to disturb the minds of the Indians, to in- 
terrupt the ordinary discharge of my duties, and prevent their 
receiving messages they had long since expected from me. To 
enter into a minute detail of all the falsehoods propagated and 
all the obstructions I met with, though it could not fail astonish- 
ing any gentlemen disposed to discountenance them, would far 



1775.] GUY JOHNSON AT THE WEST. 85 

exceed the limits of a letter or the time I have to spare, as I 
am now finishing my Congress, entirely to my satisfaction, 
with 1340 warriors, who came hither to the only place where 
they could transact business or receive favours without inter- 
ruption ; and who are much dissatisfied at finding that the goods 
which I was necessitated to send for to Montreal, were obliged 
to be ordered back by the merchant, to prevent his being in- 
sulted, or his property invaded by the mistaken populace. 
That their ammunition was stopped at Albany — the persons on 
this communication employed in purchasing provisions for the 
Congress insulted, and all my letters, as well as even some 
trifling articles for the use of my own table, stopped. And this 
moment the Mayor of Albany assured me that he was the 
other day roused out of his bed, at a certain Mr. Thompson's 
above the German Flatts, by one Herkimer and fifteen others, 
who pursued him to search for any thing he might have for me. 
You may be assured, Sir, that this is far from being agreeable 
to the Indians — that it might have produced very disagreeable 
consequences long since, had not compassion for a deluded peo- 
ple taken place of every other consideration ; and that the im- 
potent endeavours of a missionary (who has forfeited his ho- 
nour, pledged to me,) with part of one of their tribes, is a cir- 
cumstance that, however trifling, increases their resentment. 

"I should be much obliged by your promises of discounte- 
nancing any attempts against myself, <fcc. did they not appear 
to be made on conditions of compliance with Continental or 
Provincial Congresses, or even Committees formed or to bo 
formed, many of whose Resolves may neither consist with my 
conscience, duty, or loyalty. I trust I shall always manifest 
more humanity, than to promote the destruction of the innocent 
inhabitants of a Colony to which I have been always warmly 
attached, a declaration that must appear perfectly suitable to the 
character of a man of honour and principle, who can, on no 
account, neglect those duties that are consistent therewith, 
however they may differ from sentiments now adopted in so 
many parts of America. 

" I sincerely wish a speedy termination to the present trou- 
bles, and I am, " Sir, 

" Your most humble Servant, 

" P. V. B. Livingston, Esq. G. Johnson." 



86 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775 

'• I shall have occasion to meet the Indians of my depart- 
ment in different quarters this season."* 

Colonel Johnson was accompanied in his departure by .Jo- 
seph Brant, or Thayendanegea, his secretary, and by Colonel 
John Butler and his son Walter. By the preceding letter, the 
reader will have seen that they succeeded in convening a very 
large council at Ontario. The greater portion of the Indians 
attending, however, were probably Cayugas and Senecas. 
These were now far the most numerous of the Six Nations, al- 
though the Mohawks yet stood in rank at the head of the con- 
federacy. Formerly the last-mentioned tribe had been the 
most numerous and powerful of the Cantons ; but at an early day 
after the planting of the Colony of New- York, the French had 
succeeded in seducing a large section of the Mohawks to return 
to Canada, whence they originally came, after breaking the 
vassalage in which they had been held by the Algonquins. 
Their proximity to the whites, moreover, had been attended by 
the effect, invariable and seemingly inevitable, in regard 
to their race, of diminishing their numbers. Added to all 
which, their warlike character, and their daring ferocity, expos- 
ing them to more frequent perils than were encountered by 
their associated Cantons, had contributed still farther to this un- 
equal diminution.! 

It is not known that any record of this council was preserved, 
although the speeches interchanged were doubtless written, 
since that was the universal practice in the conduct of Indian 
intercourse. But no doubt exists as to the fact, that the super- 
intendent succeeded in still farther alienating the affections of 
the great majority of the Indians from the Americans, if they did 
not immediately join the ranks of the invaders. Nor. when all 

* This letter was copied by the author from the onginal, in the State Department, 
Albany. 

t Among the manuscripts of Sir William Johnson, I have found a census of the 
Northern and Western Indians, from the Hudson river to the great Lakes and the 
Mississippi, taken in 1763. The Mohawk warriors were then only 160 ; the 
Oneidas, 250; Tuscaroras, 140 ; Onondagas, 150; Cayugas, 200; Senecas, 1050. 
Total, 1950. According to the calculation of a British agent, several of the tribes 
must have increased between the close of the French war and the beginning of the 
American Revolution, as it was computed that, durins the latter contest, the 
English had in service 300 Mohawks, 150 Oneidas, 200 Tuscaroras, 300 Ononda- 
gas, 230 Cayugas, and 400 Senecas.— AUhor. 



1775.] DISPOSITION OF THE INDIANS. 87 

the circumstances of their case and position are dispassionately 
considered, is it surprising that their inclinations were favorable 
to the Crown. On the contrary, the wonder is that Colonel John- 
son did not succeed in carrying with him the Oneidas and Tusca- 
roras also ; and he probably would have done so, but for the salu- 
tary though indirect influence of Mr, Kirkland, and their noble 
chief, the sagacious Schenandoah — always the warm and un- 
wavering friend of the Colonists, With regard to these Indians, 
it must be considered that they had then been in alliance with 
Great Britain during a period of more than one hundred years. 
In all their wars with their implacable enemies the Algonquins, 
acting in alliance with the French, the Six Nations had been 
assisted by the English, or fighting side by side with them. 
For a long series of years Sir William Johnson had been their 
counsellor and friend. His family was to a certain extent 
allied with the head canton of the confederacy, and he was 
consulted by them in all aifairs of business or of high emer- 
gency, as an oracle. They had drawn their supplies through 
him and his agents, and it was natural that, upon his decease, 
their affection for him should be transferred to his successor in 
office, who was also his son-in-law. Miss Molly, moreover, 
was a woman of vigorous understanding and of able manage- 
ment. And, as we have already seen, she and Colonel Guy 
himself, were sustained by the powerful aid of Thayendanegea, 
who united the advantages of education with the native saga- 
city of his race. Added to all which, the cause was considered, 
if not desperate, at least of doubtful issue ; while the unenlight- 
ened Indians had been taught to hear the nan^ of the king 
with great reverence, and to believe him all-powerful. They 
considered the officers of the Crown their best friends ; and it 
was but natural that they should hold on upon the great chain 
which they had so long laboured to keep bright between them. 
It has already been remarked, that, thus for, Colonel Guy 
Johnson had committed no act of actual hostility. While this 
council was holding in Ontario, however, the whole valley of 
the Mohawk was filled with alarm, by reports that he was pre- 
paring an expedition to return upon them, and lay the country 
waste by fire and sword. On the 11th of July, Colonel Her- 
kimer wrote from Canajoharie to the Palatine Committee, that 
he had received credible intelligence that morning, that Guy 



88 LIFE OF BRANT, [1175. 

Johnson was ready to march back upon them with a body of 
eight or nine hundred Indians, and that the attack would be 
commenced from the woods below the Little Falls, on the 
northern side of the riyer. He therefore proposed sending to 
Albany immediately for a corresponding number of men. An 
urgent letter was forthwith despatched by the Committee to 
Schenectady and Albany, for the amount of assistance mention- 
ed, " to prevent these barbarous enterprises," and to enable them 
" to resist their inhuman enemies with good success — that they 
" might not be slaughtered, like innocent and defenceless sheep 
" before ravaging wolves." 

From the positive character of the intelligence, and the mys:- 
terious movements of Guy Johnson and his followers, the 
inhabitants had good cause of alarm ; more especially as Sir 
John Johnson * remained at the Hall in Johnstown, having at 
his beck a large body of loyalists, making his castle (for the 
Hall was now fortified,) their head quarters, — who, in the event 
of such a movement by his brother-in-law from the west, 
would doubtless be prepared to join the Indians in the enter- 
prise, and between them both, be able to whelm the settlements 
in destruction at a single blow. Eveiy possible preparation 
was therefore made for their defence, but the alarm proved to 
be without foundation ; and after Guy Johnson had completed 
his business at Ontario, he returned to Oswego, where he very 
soon afterward convened another council and held a treaty, at 
which he succeeded in still farther estranging the Indians from 
the Colonies. The particulars of this council have never 
transpired in writing ; but some interesting references to it will 
occur in an Indian speech a few pages onward.t 

From Oswego, Guy Johnson crossed into Canada, and thence 

* Sir John Johnson held a commission as Brigadier-general of militia. 
• t The following passage from Ramsay's History of the Revolution, seems to refer 
to this Indian convocation at Oswego. There was no other meeting during that year, 
to which this notice of Ramsay could refer. " Colonel Johnson had repeated con- 
ferences with the Indians, and endeavoured to influence them to take up the hatchet, 
but they steadily refused. In order to gain their co-operation, he invited them to a 
feast on a Bostonian, and to drink his blood. This, in the Indian style, meant no 
more than to partake of a roasted ox and a pipe of wine at a public entertainment, 
which was given on design to influence them to co-operate with the British troops. 
The Colonial patriots affected to understand it in its literal sense. It furnished, in 
their mode of explication, a convenient handle for operating on the passions of the 
people." 



1775.] THK CHIEFS VISIT MONTREAL. 89 

descended the St. Lawrence to Montreal, accompanied by a 
large number of the chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations, 
who were invited to an interview with Sir Guy Carleton and 
Sir Frederick Haldimand — botli those distinguished oificers 
being in that city at the time — and were induced by them to 
embark in the cause of the King. 

It has often been asserted, especially by British historians, 
that Sir Guy Carleton was opposed to the employment of the 
Indians in the contest, from principles of humanity. Such, 
however, was not the fact. Brant repeatedly asserted in after- 
life, in speeches delivered by him, copies of which are yet ex- 
tMit, that on their first arrival in Montreal, General Carleton 
proposed to them to enter the service. In a speech delivered 
by the Chief in the year 1803, recapitulating the history of the 
services of the Mohawks in that war, the following passages 
occur, touching the point now under discussion : — " We were 
" living at the former residence of Guy Johnson, when the 
" news arrived that war had commenced between the king's 
" people and the Americans. We took but little notice of this 
" first report ; but in a few days we heard that five hundred 
*' Americans were coming to seize our superintendent. Such 
" news as this alarmed us, and we immediately consulted to- 
" gether as to what measures were necessary to be taken. We 
" at once reflected upon the covenant of our forefathers as allies 
" to the King, and said, ' It will not do for us to break it, let 
" what will become of us.' Indeed, it is a long time since the 
" Governor (Sir Guy Carleton) said to us : 'I exhort you to 
" continue your adherence to the King, and not to break the 
" solemn agreement made by your forefathers ; for your own 
" welfare is intimately connected with your continuing the 
'• allies of his Majesty.' He also said a great deal more to the 
" same purport ; and on this our minds were the more firmly 
" fixed, for we acknowledged that it would certainly be the 
" best in the end, for our families and ourselves to remain under 
" the King's protection, whatever difficulties we might have to 
" contend with. ****** ^ council was next convened at 
" Montreal, in July, 1775. at which the Seven Nations, (or 
" Caughnawagas,) were present, as well as ourselves the Six Na- 
" tions. On this occasion General Haldimand told us what 
" had befallen the King's subjects, and said, now is the time for 



90 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

" you to help the King. The war has commenced. Assist the 
" King- now, and you will find it to your advantage. Go now 
" and fight for your possessions, and whatever you lose oi" 
*' your property during the war, the King will make up to you 
" when peace returns. This is the substance of what General 
" Haldimand said. The Caughnawaga Indians then joined 
" themselves to us. We immediately commenced in good 
" earnest, and did our utmost during the war." 

The speech of Brant, from which the preceding extract is 
taken, was written in the Mohawk language, and never, by him, 
rendered into English. It is an important document, develop- 
ing a new fact in regard to the conduct of Sir Guy Carleton, 
and has accordingly been translated for the present work. Strict 
historical accuracy is often of slow attainment ; but, after all de- 
ductions from the merits of General Carleton, afterward Lord 
Dorchester, enough that is truly excellent and great will remain 
to leave him a reputation of which most public men might well 
be proud. 



1 



CHAPTER V. 



Meeting of the second Continental Congress — Measures of defence — Declaration- 
National fast — Organization of an Indian department — Address to the Six Na- 
tions — Council called at Albany — Preliminary consultation at German Flatts — 
Speeches of the Oneidas and others — Adjourn to Albany — Brief interview with 
the commissioners — Conference and interchange of speeches with the Albanians — 
Proceedings of the grand council — Speeches of the commissioners — Replies of the 
Indians — Conclusion of the grand council — Resumption of the conference with 
the Albanians — Speech of the Albany Committee — Reply of the Indians — Dis- 
closures of Guy Johnson's proceedings at Oswego — Close of the proceedings — ■ 
Epidemic among the Indians — Small benefit resulting from the council — Proceed- 
ings in Tryon County resumed — Doubtful position of New-York — Symptoms of 
disaffection to the cause of the people — Sir John Johnson — Sheriff White deposed 
by the people — The royal authorities superseded by appointments from the peo- 
ple — Affray at Johnstown — First gun fired at Sampson Sammons — White recom- 
missioned by Tryon — His flight — Labors of the Committee— Opposition of the 
Tories — Difisigns of Sir John Johnson and Sir Guy Carleton — Letter and depu- 
tation to Sir John — Prisoners for political offences sent to gaol — Letter from Pro- 
vincial Congress — Mohawks commence fighting at St. Johns — Speech of the Ca- 
najoharies in explanation— Indians apply for release of prisoners — Review of the 
progress of the Revolution in other parts of the Colonies — Proceedings of Parlia- 
ment—Burning of Falmouth — Descent upon Canada — Ethan Allen taken — Ar- 
nold's expedition — Siege of duebec — Fall of Montgomery — Caughnawaga and 
Delaware Indians. 

The second Continental Congress, composed of delegates, 
assembled at Philadelphia on the 10th of May. Hostilities hav- 
ing actually commenced, and it being well understood that 
large reinforcements of the British army were on their way 
from England, no time was lost in preparing for the public de- 
fence. Protesting that they " wished for a restoration of the 
harmony formerly subsisting between the mother country and 
the Colonies," they resolved again to present " a humble and 
dutiful petition to his Majesty ;" prepared addresses to the peo- 
ple of Great Britain ; to those of Canada ; and to the assembly 
of Jamaica ; voted for the immediate equipment of 20,000 men ; 
voted to raise three millions on bills of credit for the prosecution 
of the war ; and, on the nomination of John Adams, commis- 
sioned George Washington, of Virginia, as Commander-in- 
Chief. On the 4th of July Congress denounced the two acts 
of Parliament of the preceding session, restraining the trade artd 
commerce of the Colonies, as " unconstitutional, oppressive, 
and cruel ;" and on the 6th they agreed to a manifesto, " setting 
forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms." After 
a spirited but temperate preamble, presenting a historical view 



92 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

of the origin, and progress, and conduct of the Colonies, and of 
the measures of the British government since the peace of 1763 ; 
and after an eloquent recapitulation of the grievances which 
had produced the collision, and proclaiming their confidence of 
obtaining foreign aid if necessary, and of ultimate success ; dis- 
avowing, moreover, any intention to dissolve the connexion 
between the parent country and the Colonies; the declaration 
proceeded — "We most solemnly, before God and the world, 
" DECLARE, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers 
" which our beneficent Creator hath bestowed upon us, the 
" arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we 
" will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness 
" and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties ; 
'•' being with one mind resolved to die free-men rather than 
" live SLAVES," They protested that they would lay down 
their arms when hostilities should cease on the part of the 
aggressors, and not before. Reposing their confidence in the 
mercy of the Impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, and 
imploring his goodness to protect and carry them through the 
conflict, they appointed the 20th of July to be observed as 
a day of public humiliation, fasting, and prayer with that view. 
It was generally observed, and was the first national fast ever 
proclaimed in the New World.* 

But amidst all the arduous duties demanding the attention of 
Congress, the importance of keeping a watchful eye upon the 
Indians was universally conceded. The position of the Six 
Nations, as well as their power to do mischief, could not but 
strike the observation of all. They had served as an useful 
barrier between the English settlements and the French in 
Canada, in former wars, and were often actively engaged as 
auxiliaries. Their position, and their utility, would be now 
precisely the same between the Americans and the English 
in Canada. It was therefore deemed of the first consequence, 
if possible, to prevent them from taking sides with the English — 
not, however, with a view to their employment in arms by our- 
selves ; since, notwithstanding the disposition manifested by the 
Congress of Massachusetts to employ the Indians, and the ac- 
tual engagement of the Stockbridge Indians as auxiliaries, it was, 

* Holmes's Annals. 



1775.] ADDRESS TO THE SIX NATIONS. 93 

nevertheless, the anxious desire of the Congress to keep them in 
a position of neutraUty as between England and the Colonies, 
and at peace among themselves, and with all. For the pur- 
pose of closer observation and more efficient action in respect 
to the Indian relations of the country, therefore, an Indian De- 
partment, with three sub-divisions, Northern, Middle, and 
Southern, was established on the I2th of July, and Commissioners 
were appointed for each — " with power to treat with the In- 
" dians in their respective departments, to preserve peace and 
" friendship, and to prevent their taking any part in the present 
" commotions." The Commissioners of the Northern Depart- 
ment were, Major General Philip Schuyler, Major Joseph 
Hawley, Mr. Turbot Francis, Mr. Oliver Wolcott, and Mr. 
Volkert P. Douw. The form of an address to the several 
tribes of Indians, in all the departments, was agreed upon, to be 
altered as occasion might require for local adaptation. This 
address was framed after the manner of Indian speeches, and 
contained a summary history of the Colonies, and of the rise 
and progress of the difficulties between them and the parent 
country. In the course of the address, the Indians were in- 
formed of the nature and objects of the contest then begun, 
and were strongly advised to the preservation of neutrality. 
The Congress said — " We desire you will hear and receive 
" what we have now told you, and that you will open a good 
" ear, and listen to what we are now going to say. This is a 
" family quarrel between us and Old England. You Indians 
" are not concerned in it. We do not wish you to take up the 
" hatchet against the King's troops. We desire you to remain 
" at home, and not join on either side, but keep the hatchet 
" buried deep. In the name and behalf of all our people, we 
" ask and desire you to love peace and maintain it, and to love 
" and sympathise with us in our troubles ; that the path may 
" be kept open with all our people and yours, to pass and repass 
•' without molestation." In conclusion, the Congress said — 
" Let us both be cautious in our behaviour toward each other 
" at this critical state of affairs. This island now trembles : 
" the wind whistles from almost every quarter * * * let us 
" fortify our minds, and shut our ears against false rumors * * ♦ 
" let us be cautious what we receive for truth, unless spoken by 
" wise and good men. If any thing disagreeable should ever 



94 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

" fall out between us, the Twelve United Colonies, and you, 
" the Six Nations, to M^ound our peace, let us immediately seek 
" measures for healing the breach. From the present situation 
" of our affairs, we judge it wise and expedient to kindle up a 
" small council fire at Albany, where we may hear each other's 
"voice, and disclose our minds more fully to one another."* 

Such were a few of the points only of the address, which 
was an honest and earnest attempt to prevent the savages from 
taking any part in the contest whatever. No time was lost by 
the Commissioners of the Northern department, in the adoption 
of measures pursuant to its wise spirit and policy. For this 
purpose a treaty was appointed to be held with the Six Na- 
tions at Albany, in the month of August, and the tribes were 
all invited to attend. Previous to the day of meeting, two of 
the Commissioners, Mr. Douw and Colonel Francis, met a 
number of the chiefs and warriors in a preliminary council at 
the German Flatts, which was not well attended. This con- 
ference was holden on the 15th and 16th days of August. 
Colonel Francis opened the council by stating the objects for 
which the twelve United Colonies had invited the proposed 
general meeting at Albany, which they now solicited all the 
Six Nations and their allies to attend. They added — '• When 
" we meet you, our brethren of the Six Nations, and your 
" allies, at Albany, we will rekindle the council fire which our 
" ancestors and yours formerly kindled up at that place, and 
" there sit down and converse together upon the present situa- 
" tion of the twelve United Colonies, and disclose to you their 
" minds thereon. We have important matters to communicate 
" to you, our brethren of the Six Nations, and your allies, 
" which cannot be disclosed until the council fire be kindled up 
" at Albany, and we are in full assembly." Observing that the 
council was thinly attended. Colonel Francis urged them in his 
speech to send a general invitation to all the Six Nations to ap- 
pear at Albany ; and he proposed that they should also send 
belts of invitation to the Caughnawagas in the neighborhood 
of Montreal, together with the Indians of the Seven Nations on 
the St. Lawrence. Colonel Francis concluded his " talk " as 
follows : — 

" Brothers : As many mischievous and evil-disposed per- 

* The address to die Indians is lon^) and will be found in the AppcndLx. 



1775.] COUNCIL AT GERMAN FLATTS. 95 

sons may attempt to raise up in your minds sentiments that 
are unfriendly to your brethren of the twelve United Colo- 
nies, we beg you will shut your ears and fortify your minds 
against any such evil and false reports ; and if any such 
liars and deceivers should appear among you, and endeavour 
to poison your minds, be assured they are as much your ene- 
mies as the enemies of your brethren of the twelve United 
Colonies together, and which is now going to be made strong- 
er at Albany." A Belt. 

To this Kanaghquaesa, an Oneida sachem, replied : — 

" Brothers : You have now opened your minds. We 
liave heard your voices. Your speeches are far from being 
contemptible. But as the day is far spent, we defer a reply 
until to-morrow, as we are weary from having sat long in 
council. We think it time for a little drink : and you must 
remember that the twelve United Colonies are a great body." 

The council having adjourned over to the 16th, Tiahog- 
7vando, an Oneida sachem, made the following reply to the 
speech of the Commissioners : — 

"Brother Solihoany,* and our Albany Brothers, attend! 
We are now assembled at the German Flatts, at which place 
you kindled up a council fire, and yesterday called us together, 
and acquainted us from whence you came, and by whose au- 
thority — namely, by that of the twelve United Colonies — and 
you opened your business to us. 

" Brothers : Now attend. Through the mercy of God 
we are brought to this day, and the Six Nations are now in full 
assembly at this place ,where we smoke a pipe in friendship and 
love. We are glad to hear your voices. You are come to in- 
vite us down to Albany, to a council fire of peace. 

" Brothers : We thank you for this invitation. It meets 
with our entire approbation. Here we are, of every tribe in 
the Six Nations, It shall be done as you have said. 

" Brothers : You have desired that all our confederates 
should receive this invitation. This cannot be done short of 
one year, as we extend very far, and could not possibly call the 
extremities of our confederacy to this intended meeting. But 
possess your minds in peace. When this Congress is over, 
and the council fire is raked up, we shall acquaint all our allies 

♦ The name bestowed upon CoIoMel Francis by the Indians, 
1^ 



96 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

with what has passed. This is the answer of all the Six Na- 
tions who are now here represented from every tribe. 

"Brothers, attend! Yesterday you said you were sen- 
sible our confederacy extended to Caughnawaga, and you de- 
sired our assistance to forward this your belt of invitation to 
the Caughnawagas and the seven tribes in that quarter. 

"Brothers: Possess your minds in peace. We, the Six 
Nations, are put to difficulty to grant this request. We are 
much embarrassed, for this reason. The man is now there who 
will vex your minds, and never consent to their coming down, 
and will draw hard upon their minds another way.* He is of 
your own blood. 

" Brothers : Possess your minds in peace. We, of the 
Six Nations, have the minds of the Caughnawagas and the 
seven tribes in that quarter. At our central council-house, 
when this took place, they addressed us of the Six Nations in 
the following manner : — ' You are better capable of maintain- 
' ing peace than we are ; therefore we deliver up our minds to 
' you.' For these reasons we advise you to reconsider your 
petition to us, seeing we are so embarrassed we cannot grant 
it. Perhaps you will say to us, when your intended council 
fire shall be over, ' Brothers, do you of the Six Nations ac- 
' quaint all your confederates and allies of what has passed at 
' this council-fire of peace ;' and this we shall do with great 
care and exactness. Now, Brothers, you see how we are em- 
barrassed, and therefore give you this advice." Belt returned. 

To this Colonel Francis made answer : — 

" Brethren of the Six Nations : It gives us a great deal 
of uneasiness to find that you cannot at present convey this 
belt to our friends in Canada. We have heard your reasons, 
and are sorry to find that one of our blood is already there, 
endeavouring to draw their minds from us when we mean no- 
thing but peace towards them. As there are a great many 
Englishmen in Canada, we know not who you mean. We 
shall therefore be glad to have the particular man pointed out." 

To this request, the Mohawk sachem. Little Abraham, replied : 

" Brothers : We take it for granted that you all know the 
very man we mean. We said he was of your blood. We see 
no necessity of pointing him out more explicitly." 

+ Guy Johnson was doubtless the man referred to. 



1775.] COUNCIL AT ALBANY. 97 

The times being critical, and the people of the valley being 
exceedingly suspicious of the movements of the Indians, the 
latter were not altogether without apprehension that some evil 
might befal them in their course to Albany. Tiahogwando 
therefore addressed the council upon that point as follows : — 

"Brother Solihoany, and our Albany Brother: We take 
it for granted you have called us to a council of peace and en- 
tire friendship ; and you have taken us by the hand. As there 
are men of different minds, and some of them may be ill dis- 
posed, we desire you will admonish your own people that they 
offer us no abuse in the way down to your council-fire of peace. 
If this caution should be neglected, some misfortune might 
happen ; as all people do not meet so much like brothers as for- 
merly, on account of the present situation of affairs. It would 
be unhappy if our council-fire should be crushed by any mis- 
chief-makers. We have given you this caution, that while we 
are marching along in peace and quietness, we might not be 
alarmed by a blow struck in our rear. We therefore desire you 
would begin, even at this council-lire, to publish your admo- 
nitions to unwise and ungovernable people. By this belt we 
declare to you, our Brothers, that the road is open for passing 
and repassing, and free from all embarrassments, through the 
Six Nations, as it has been for a long time. Therefore we de- 
sire that we may have the same open road down to your in- 
tended council-fire at Albany." * 

Colonel Francis replied : — 

"Brethren of the Six Nations: By this belt you de- 
sire that we may clear the road to Albany, that none of our 
people may injure you. The road shall be as clear for you to 
go to Albany, as it is for us to go to the country of the Six Na- 
tions. The twelve United Colonies have given us great 
power over the white people. We will appoint white men, 
who speak your language and love your nations, to see you 
safe down to Albany, and to provide provisions for you on the 
way. We shall set out for Albany to-morrow morning, to pre- 
pare matters for kindling up the great council-fire there." 

The Board of Commissioners for the Northern Department 
met at Albany, on the 23d of August, (with the exception of 

♦ As Mr. Kirkland was in attendance upon this council, the Indian speeches were 
doubtless interpreted by him. 



98 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

Major Hawley, who had dehned his appointment in cons;e- 
quence of ill health,) and made the necessary arrangements for 
holding the treaty. An invitation was given to the civil au- 
thorities of Albany, to pay the sachems and warriors a compli- 
mentary visit in company with the Commissioners, which was ac- 
cepted. A committee of the principal gentlemen of Albany was 
likewise appointed, to join in the complimentary visit on the 
24th. On reaching the quarters of the chiefs, they were ad- 
dressed as follows: — 

"Brkthern op the Six Nations: — We, the deputies 
appointed by the twelve United Colonies, the descendants of 
Q,uedar, and the gentlemen of the city of Albany, congratulate 
you on your arrival here. They are glad to see you well, and 
thank the Great God that he suffers us to meet." 

In the course of this interview, the sachems intimated a de- 
sire to have a consultation with the municipal officers of the 
city of Albany before they met the commissioners in formal 
council. It appears that there had been some diplomatic pas- 
sages between the Oneida Indians and the Albanians, and an 
interchange of messengers ; and the chiefs were now desirous 
of having a conference with them. The commissioners, 
anxious to humor the Indians, assented to the request ; and 
the Albanians appointed a committee, consisting of Walter 
Livingston, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, and Samuel Stringer, 
to make the arrangements. The interview took place the 
same evening, when Seaghnagerat, an Oneida chief, opened 
the proceedings with a speech of very unusual length for an In- 
dian. He commenced by an expression of his gratification that, 
on opening the ashes to rekindle the old council-fire, they had 
found some of the sparks remaining. He next referred to the 
proceedings of a previous consultation at the German Flatts, 
touching the conduct of Guy Johnson in removing their mis- 
sionaries, and other matters. The meeting referred to seems 
to have been a partial council, to which the Albanians had sent 
a deputation, the object of which was, by the exhibition of some 
ancient belts, to remind the Indians of a former covenant of 
peace with duedar, and to dissuade them from engaging in 
the existing quarrel. What had been said by the Albany de- 
puties, at the conference referred to, but of which no record 
seems to have been preserved, was now repeated in substance 



1775.] COUNCIL AT ALCAXY. 99 

by the Oneida chief, after the Indian manner of conducting 
their councils. He then proceeded to reply seriatim ; from 
which circumstance it is probable that the former council-fire 
had been raked up, before its proceedings were brought to a 
close. The reply now made was decidedly and strongly paci- 
fic. The chief admitted that " evil birds " had been basy in 
circulating unpleasant rumors, and that efforts had been made 
to make them swerve from their neutrality by Guy Johnson 
or his agents — at least, such was the inference hom the speech ; 
but he over and over again protested the determination of the 
Six Nations to avoid interfering with the controversy, and only 
exhorted the Colonists to keep the path into their country 
open, so that they could pass and repass without molestation. 
In regard to the removal of their missionary, the chiefs said 
Guy Johnson had done it pursuant to " a belt "* received from 
Governor Gage. He expressed the greatest respect for Mr. 
Kirkland ; but at the same time, under the circumstances of 
the case, suggested whether it would not on the whole be bet- 
ter for Mr. K. to leave them for the present, until the storm 
should be over and gone. 

The speech having been ended, the Albanian Committee 
thanked them for it, and promised a reply after the grand coun- 
cil with the Commissioners of the Twelve Colonies should be 
terminated. 

That council commenced its sittings on the day following — 
August 25th. The Oneida speaker of the preceding evening 
opened the council very appropriately, after which the Com- 
missioners, before proceeding formally to business, proposed that 
they should all sit down and smoke the pipe of peace together. 
The suggestion was acceded to, and the calumet passed round. 
This ceremony having been ended, the Commissioners opened 
their mission by a very appropriate and effective speech, remind- 
ing the Indians of some ancient covenants of friendship with 
the Colonists, and repeating to them a portion of the speech of 
Cannassateego, an old and popular sachem of the Six Nations, 
whose name and character were held in great reverence by 
them, delivered thirty years before at a great council held in 

• An order. 



100 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

Lancaster.* The exhortation was, to union among themselves, 
and peace and friendship with the Colonists. 

The council was then adjourned to the 26th, when, the 
Commissioners presented the address from the Congress, of 
which particular mention has been made on a preceding page. 
The deliberations of Indian councils are slow procedures. 
Their language is composed of long and intricate compounds, 
and the necessity of deliberate and thorough interpretations, so 
that the matter spoken and explained be fastened upon the 
memories of the Indians, who possess not the advantage of 
written language, renders the process tedious. The entire sit- 
tings of two days were therefore required for the delivery and 
interpretation, by Mr. Kirkland, of the Congressional " talk " 
with which the Commissioners were charged. At the close, 
one of the chiefs declared that the address contained " nothing 
" but what was pleasant and good." But, as the matters pro- 
posed were of high importance, they requested the next day for 
separate deliberation among themselves, promising on the suc- 
ceeding day, August 27th, to make their reply. It was not, 
however, until the 31st of August that the Indians were rea- 
dy to make known the results of their own secret councils. 
Their answer was delivered by Little Abraham, the Mohawk 
sachem of the Lower Castle. It was an able speech, thoroughly 
pacific. But there was one declaration which it is difficult to 
reconcile with the admitted veracity of the Indians, since it 
was inconsistent with the well-known course of Guy Johnson, 
and the covenant which had then already been made by Brant 
and his followers, with Sir Guy Carleton and General Haldi- 
mand at Montreal. We allude to the declaration of Little 
Abraham, that Johnson had advised them to assume and pre- 
serve a neutral position at the recent Oswego council. The 
proceedings of Brant and Guy Johnson at Montreal had not 
then probably transpired in the Mohawk Valley. Still Guy 
Johnson must have dissembled, or spoken with a "forked 
tongue," to those Indians whom he supposed friendly to the 
Colonies, or so great a mistake could not have been made by 
Little Abraham. 



* A brother of Caunassatcego war present on tliis occasion, and well remem- 
bered his words. 



1775.] COUNCIL AT ALBANY. 101 

In the course of their speech, the chiefs expressed a strong at- 
tachment for Sir John Johnson as the son of their old friend, Sir 
WilUam, who was born among them, and of Dutch extraction 
by his mother.* They desired that whatever might be the 
cause of the war. Sir John might be left unmolested. The 
same request was also interposed in behalf of their missionary, 
the Rev. Mr. Stewart, who, they said, had been sent to them 
by the King ; and also because he never " meddled with civil 
affairs," but was intent only on " instructing them in the way to 
heaven." 

In the conclusion of his speech, Abraham took occasion to 
refer to some domestic matters between themselves and the 
people of Albany. He charged them with having taken two 
pieces of land from the Mohawks, without paying therefor so 
much even as a pipe. These lands the Indians desired the 
Twelve Colonies to restore, and put them into peaceable pos- 
session again. " If you refuse to do this," said he, " we shall 
" look upon the prospect as bad ; for if you conquer, you will 
" take us by the arm and pull us all off." In thus saying, he 
spoke with the spirit of prophecy ! 

When little Abraham had ended, Tiahogicando, an Onei- 
da, made a short speech on the subject of the then pending 
bloody and bitter controversy between Connecticut and Penn- 
sylvania, respecting the territory of Wyoming, of which a fuU 
account will follow in its proper place. The Indians avowed 
that the land had been conveyed by them to Penn, as a free 
gift — the Great Spirit not allowing them to sell that country. 
In the course of their speeches, the chiefs requested that the 
Indian trade might be re-opened with them, both at Albany and 
Schenectady, and that somebody might be appointed to guard 
the tree of peace at Albany, and keep the council fire burning. 

On the 1st of September the Commissioners made their re- 
ply, conciliatory in its character, and acceding to the principal 
requests of the Indians. They also informed the chiefs that 
they had appointed General Schuyler and Mr. Douw to keep 
the fire burning. Thus ended the council with the agents of 
the Colonies. The "unfinished business" with the Alba- 
nians was resumed on the next day — September 2d — for which 

* The mother of Sir John was a German lady, but in the Mohawk Valley the 
Germans are usually calleJ Eutch to this day. 



102 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

purpose a council was formed in the Presbyterian church. 
The Commissioners of the United Colonies were hkewise in at- 
tendance. After the prehminaries of form had been gone 
through with, the Indians were addressed at length by the 
Albany Committee. In the course of their speech, they ad- 
verted particularly to the council at Oswego and the proceed- 
ings of Guy Johnson at that place, respecting which, they said, 
they had received no certain advices, and of which they wished 
to be fully and explicitly informed. In regard to the land 
question interposed by the Indians, the Committee said they pre- 
sumed reference was had to the lands at Ticonderoga, That 
was a question between the Indians and the corporation of Al- 
bany ; whereas they were a committee from the people, and 
could not entertain the question. They reminded the Indians, 
however, that the question had been agitated before, and set- 
tled by the Colonial Assembly. They also gave them to un- 
derstand that the Indians were not the party having cause of 
complaint in that matter. 

The reply of the Indians was delivered by Little Abraham. 
Waiving the land question, he proceeded to answer the ques- 
tions put to them concerning the Oswego council. " We look 
" upon it," said he, " that God will punish us should we conceal 
•' any thing from you." The following passages are quoted from 
the reply of Abraham : — 

"Brothers: The transactions of that treaty were very 
public. The Shawanese were there, and some from Detroit. 
Mr. Johnson told us that the fire kindled there was a fire of 
peace ; that all the white people were the King's subjects, 
and that it seemed they were intoxicated. He said the white 
people were all got drunk, and that God's judgment hung over 
them ; but he did not know on which side it would fall. Mr. 
Johnson further told us, that the present council fire was kin- 
dled on account of the present dispute, and desired us not to 
interfere, as they were brothers ; and begged us to sit still and 
maintain peace. This is what Colonel Johnson told us at that 
council-fire. He also said he had his eye on Mr. Kirkland : 
that he was gone to Philadelphia, and along the sea-coast : that 
he was become a great soldier and a leader. " Is this your 
" minister ?" says he ; "do you think your minister minds your 
" souls 7 No. By the time he comes to Philadelphia, he will 



1775.] COUNCIL AT ALBANY. 103 

" be a great warrior, and when he returns, he will be the chief 
" of all the Five Nations." 

" Brothers : There were present five people of Detroit, 
five from Caughnawaga, and two of the Shawanese. Colonel 
Johnson told them that, by the time he returned from Canada, 
they should have all their men there, and he would then kin- 
dle a council-fire ; and he would also desire them not to take 
any part in this dispute, as it was a quarrel between brothers. 
He also told them that he was going to the Governor of Cana- 
da, who was of a different opinion from him, but would talk 
with him. And he further said that he would tell the Caugh- 
nawaga Indians the same that he told us, and for that purpose 
desired that two of each nation might go along and hear it. 
He likewise desired us to consider which way we would have 
our trade — whether up this river or from Canada. He at the 
same time assured us that we should not suffer from want of 
goods, as we were not concerned, nor had any hand, in the 
present dispute. He also said something about the council- 
fires. He said there were two fires which you should keep 
your eyes upon ; and if they call you down to Albany, do not 
you go ; for they will deceive you, and tell you a great many 
fine stories. We are very glad that your language and Colo- 
nel Johnson's so well agrees." 

This report of the proceedings of Guy Johnson at Oswego 
was certainly unexpected, and entirely at variance with the 
tenor of his conduct previous to his departure from the Mohawk 
Valley, and during his progress to the west. It is barely possi- 
ble that he had not fully made up his mind as to the course he 
might ultimately pursue, and that his purpose was not definitive- 
ly determined upon, until after his meeting with Carleton and 
Haldimand at Montreal. And it is abundantly certain that his 
notions of Indian neutrality, even had he entertained them, 
were very speedily abandoned. 

With the delivery of Abraham's last-mentioned speech, how- 
ever, the council was closed; and although Schuyler and 
Douw had been appointed to keep the council fire burning, yet 
the ashes were soon raked up — never to be opened again at 
Albany, for that was the last grand Indian council ever held in 
that city.* 

* As mentioned in the Introduction to the present volume, the interesting pro- 

18 



104 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

The result was highly satisfactory to the Commissioners, and 
apparently so to the Indians, who had been well provided for 
during the three weeks occupied at the German Flatts and 
Albany. On their departure, moreover, they were handsomely 
supplied with presents, and they took their leave with mani- 
festations of great good-will. 

Most unfortunately, however, soon after their return from 
Albany, an epidemic disorder appeared among them, in the 
form of a highly malignant fever. It was a disease which they 
had never seen, and by it great numbers were swept away. 
The Schoharie canton of the Mohawks, in particular, suffered 
very severely. Indeed, they were almost exterminated.* The 
small number who survived, imbibed the impression that the 
Great Spirit had sent the pestilence upon them in anger for not 
having taken sides with the King. They, therefore, followed 
their brethren from the Mohawk Valley, who had escaped to 
Canada with Guy Johnson. In the subsequent invasions of 
the Tryon County settlements, these Schoharie Indians, who 
thus deserted by an impulse of superstition, were among the 
most forward and cruel .t It should also be borne in mind, 
that, after all, the council comprised but an inadequate and par- 
tial representation of the Six Nations, with the exception of the 
Oneidas and the lower clan of the Mohawks. The great body 
of the Mohawk warriors, headed by Thayendanegea, had left 
the country ; and the most influential of the Onondagas, Cay- 
ugas, and Senecas, had also accompanied Brant and Guy 
Johnson to Montreal : and events, at no very distant day, proved 
that the Albany treaty had been held to very little purpose. It 
is not consistent with the nature or habits of Indians to re- 
main inactive in the midst of war. 

Still, for the time being, those proceedings were not without 
benefit to the cause of the country. The people of Tryon 

ceedings of which a mere outline has been given in the text, have never before been 
pubUshed complete. Their importance — their intrinsic interest— and the fact that 
it was the last grand council of the confederacy ever holden in Albany, had induced 
the author originally to arrange the whole in the text. But their great length, it was 
thought, would too seriously obstruct the narrative. Hence they have been trans- 
ferred to the Appendix. It was the first design of the author to abridge the 
speeches, but an attempt soon proved that their force and spirit would be lost in 
the process. See Appendix. 

* Letter of John M. Brown, on the early history of Schoharie. f Idem. 



1775.] SIR JOHN JOHNSON. 105 

County were relieved, by the stipulations of peace and neutral- 
ity, from apprehensions of immediate danger from without ; 
and the Committee of Safety was consequently enabled to direct 
their attention, not only to the more etficient organization of 
the setdements for defence, but to the civil government of the 
county. 

But, notwithstanding the fine spirit manifested thus far by a 
majority of the people in the interior, and that too under all 
the disadvantages we have been contemplating — notwithstand- 
ing the decisive tone of the language used in denouncing the op- 
pressions of the Crown, — it was not yet exactly certain that the 
Colony of New-York would range itself against the royal au- 
thority. Governor Tryon, who was popular in the Colony, 
had recently been recalled from North Carolina, and again ap- 
pointed Governor of New- York ; and he was exerting his utmost 
powers to detach her from the cause of the Union — seconded 
by the Asia, man of war, then lying in the harbour, and com- 
manding the city of New- York by her guns. The captain of 
the Asia had threatened to destroy the town should General 
Lee, who was then approaching with an army from the east, 
be allowed to enter it ; and such were the prevalence of terror 
and the power of intrigue, that disaffection to the cause of the 
Union began to exhibit itself openly in the Provincial Congress. 
Indeed, avowals of a design to place themselves under the royal 
standard were unequivocally uttered. These untoward ap- 
pearances were rendered the more threatening by the discovery 
of a secret correspondence, from which it was ascertained that 
the parent government was preparing to send a fleet into the 
Hudson, and to occupy both New-York and Albany with its 
armies.* Of these designs Sir John Johnson was probably 
well aware, and the liope of their accomplishment may have in- 
duced him to linger behind, watching the signs of the times, 
after the departure of his brother-in-law and his army of fol- 
lowers. Sir John had also a numerous tenantry, who were 
mostly loyalists ; and the Scotch colonists, settled in large num- 
bers in Johnstown and its neighbourhood, of whom mention 
has formerly been made, being loyalists likewise, constituted for 
him a respectable force upon which he could rely in a case of 
emergency. 

* INIarshall's Life of Wasliiiigton. 



106 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

The Dutch and German population of the valley, however, 
were chiefly Whigs ; as also, by this time, were a decided ma- 
jority of the entire white population, not only of the Mohawk 
Valley, but of Schoharie, Cherry Valley, and the other settle- 
ments in the southern part of that widely-extended county. 
The general Committee executed their functions with equal 
diligence and vigour. The inhabitants were enrolled and or- 
ganized into militia; the Committee deposed the sheriff, Alex- 
ander White,* and caused Colonel John Frey to be appointed 
in his place ; and, in one word, they took upon themselves both 
the civil and military jurisdiction of the large section of coun- 
try, over which they had provisionally assumed the govern- 
ment. White had rendered himself particularly odious to the 
Whigs from the first. Under some trifling pretext, he had ar- 
rested a Whig by the name of John Fonda, and committed liim 
to prison. His friends, to the number of fifty men, under the 
conduct of Sampson Sammons, went to the jail at night and 
released him by force. From the prison they proceeded to the 
lodgings of the sheriff, and demanded his surrender. White 
looked out from the second story window, and probably recog- 
nizing the leader of the crowd, inquired — " Is that you, Sam- 
mons 7" " Yes," was the prompt reply ; upon which White 
discharged a pistol at the sturdy Whig, but happily without 
injury. The ball whizzed past his head, and struck in the 
sill of the door. This was the first shot fired in the war of the 
Revolution west of the Hudson. It was immediately returned 
by the discharge of some forty or fifty muskets at the sheriff, 
but the only effect was a slight wound in the breast — ^just suf- 
ficient to draw blood. The doors of the house were broken, 
and White would have been taken, but at that moment a gun 
was fired at the hall by Sir John. This was known to be a 
signal for his retainers and Scotch partisans to rally in arms ; 
and as they would muster a force of five hundred men in a 
very short time, the Whigs thought it most prudent to disperse. 
They collected again at Caughnawaga, however, and sent a 
deputation to Sir John, demanding that White should be given 
up to them.t This demand, of course, was not complied with. 

* The first liberty pole erected in the Mohawk Valley was at the German Flatts, 
and White, with a band of loyalists, had cut down the emblem of rebellion. 
\ MS. narrative of Jacob Sammons. 



1775.] DEPOSITION OF SHERIFF WHITE. 107 

After his dismissal, as already mentioned, by an act of the peo- 
ple " in their sovereign capacity," White was re-commissioned 
by Governor Tryon ; but the County Committee would not 
suffer him to re-enter upon the duties of the office. On the con- 
trary, so high was the popular indignation against him, that he 
was obliged to fly — setting his face toward Canada, accompa- 
nied by a white man named Peter Bone, and two or three In- 
dians. He was pursued to Jessup's landing on the Hudson 
River, where the house in which he lodged was surrounded, 
and the fugitive sheriff taken prisoner. From thence he was 
taken to Albany and imprisoned.* Shortly afterward he was 
released on his parole, and left the country. 

The exigencies of the times required prompt and vigorous 
action ; and the Committee seems to have been composed of ex- 
actly the right description of men. They arrested suspicious 
persons, tried them, fined some, imprisoned more, and executed 
others. Their duties also involved the preservation of the 
peace in a critical period, among a mixed population of border- 
men, ever more or less disposed to impatience under legal re- 
straint, and of course requiring the controlling power of 
a strong arm. And yet these high duties were generally dis- 
charged with great satisfaction to the public — the loyalists ex- 
cepted, of course — and their resolutions and decrees were submit- 
ted to by their constituents with alacrity. Their influence was 
likewise successfully exerted in winning friends to the popular 
cause, by deciding the wavering and confirming the irresolute.f 

Added to these multifarious duties, was the necessity of 
keeping a vigilant watch over the motions of Sir John John- 
son, whose position and conduct were alike equivocal, and the 
numerous loyalists by whom he was surrounded. By these 
people every possible obstacle was thrown in the way of the 
Committee, and no method of annoying and embarrassing 
them left untried. They laboured to destroy the confidence of 
the people in the Committee ; called public meetings them- 
selves, and chose counter-committees ; now attempted to cover 
the Whig Committees with ridicule, and now again charged 
them with illegal and tyrannical conduct.t The consequence 
was, mutual exasperation — sometimes between near neighbours; 

• Nanative of Jacob Saininons, f Campbell's Annals, J Idem, 



108 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

and the reciprocal engendering of hostile feelings between 
friends, who ranged themselves under opposing banners. These 
incipient neighljourhood quarrels occasioned, in the progress of 
the contest that ensued, some of the most bitter and bloody- 
personal conflicts that ever marked the annals of a civil war. 
Several members of the Committee subsequently acted a dis- 
tinguished part in the field ; many of them sacrificed their es- 
tates ; and some of them fell. Among them, Christopher 
P. Yates, the first Chairman, accompanied General Mont- 
gomery as a volunteer to Ticonderoga and Canada, and after- 
ward raised and commanded a corps of rangers.* The fate 
of Nicholas Herkimer is well known, though his death will 
be invested with new and additional interest in the progress of 
this narrative.t 

In regard to Sir John, matters were now fast approaching to 
a crisis. On the 7th of September the Committee wrote to the 
Provincial Congress in New- York, denouncing his conduct 
and that of his associates — particularly the Highlanders, who, 
to the number of two hundred, were said to be gathered about 
him, and by whom the Whigs " were daily scandalized, pro- 
" voked, and threatened." They added — '• We have great sus- 
" picions, and are almost assured, that Sir John has a continual 
" correspondence with Colonel Guy Johnson and his party."t 

No sooner had the Congress of The Twelve United 
Colonies agreed to the Declaration, or manifesto, mentioned 
in the beginning of the present chapter, proclaiming to the 
world the causes, and the necessity of their appeal to arms, 
than it was felt, on all hands, even by the timid and hesitating, 
that England and the Colonies now stood, not in the relation 

* Campbell's Annals. 

I The following extract is from a letter of the State Committee of Safety, under 
date of December, 1775, signed by John M'Kesson, Clerk of the Provincial Con- 
gress: — "I was directed by this Congress to assure you of the high esteem and 
" respect they have for your vigilant, noble-spirited County Committee." The follow- 
ing was from General Schuyler in the summer of 1776: — "The propriety of your 
"conduct, and your generous exertions in the cause of your country, entitle you to the 
" thanks of every one of its friends ; please to accept of mine most sincerely." 
Campbell's Jinnals. 

X It was afterward ascertained that such a correspondence was carried on 
through the Indians, who conveyed letters in the heads of their tomahawks and in 
the ornaments worn about their persons. The Indians also brought powder across 
from Canada. — Campbdl's ^innuls. 



1775.] SIR JOHN JOHNSOiS'. 109 

of parent and children, but in the attitude of two nations legal- 
ly at war. Hence the patriots of Tryon County began to look 
more closely, and with greater assurance, to the deportment of 
Sir Jolni, of whose designs, as has been seen, they had fromthe first 
entertained strong suspicions. The movements of Sir Guy Carle- 
ton, moreover. Governor-general of Canada, who had been com- 
missioned to muster and arm all persons within that province, 
and to wage war by land and sea against " all enemies, pirates, or 
" rebels, either in or out of the province," to " take them and 
" put them to death, or preserve them alive, at his discretion," 
were now creating great uneasiness on the northern frontier, 
from which quarter they were apprehending a formidable inva- 
sion. The management of the northern department having 
been committed to Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, who 
were now directing a force upon Montreal and Quebec, the 
Tryon County Committee determined to probe the intentions of 
Sir John Johnson at once and to the bottom. For this pur- 
pose, on the 26th of October, they addressed him the following 
letter : — 

" Tryon County Committee Chamber, 
Oct. 26, 1775. 
''Honorable Sir, 

" As we find particular reason to be convinced of your 
opinion in the questions hereafter expressed, we require you, 
that you'll please to oblige us with your sentiments thereupon 
in a few lines by our messengers, the bearers hereof, Messrs. 
Ebenezer Cox, James McMaster, and John James Klock, mem- 
bers of our Committee. 

" We want to know whether you will allow that the inhabit- 
ants of Johnstown and Kingsborough may form themselves 
into companies, according to the regulations of our Continent- 
al Congress, for the defence of our country's cause ; and 
whether your Honor would be ready himself to give his per- 
sonal assistance to the same purpose. 

" Also, whether you pretend a prerogative to our County 
court-house and gaol, and would hinder or interrupt the Com- 
mittee, to make use of the same public houses, to our want 
and service in the common cause ? 



110 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

" We don't doubt you will comply with our reasonable re- 
quests, and thereby oblige, 

" Honorable Sir, 
" Your obedient and humble Servants. 
" To the '• By order of the Committee, 

Honorable Sir John Johnson, " Nicholas Herkimer, 

Johnson HallP " Chairman." 

The deputation named in the letter waited upon Sir John 
in person, to receive his answer — the substance of which they 
reported to the Committee verbally as follows, viz : — 

" 1. By perusing our letter, Sir John replied that he thinks 
our requests very unreasonable, as he never had denied the 
use either of the court-house or gaol to any body, nor would 
yet deny it, for the use which these houses have been built for ; 
but he looks upon it that the court-house and gaol are his pro- 
perty till he is paid £700 — the amount of which being out of 
his pocket for the building of the same. 

" 2. In regard of embodying his tenants into companies, he 
never did forbid them, neither should do it, as they may use 
their pleasure ; but we might save ourselves the trouble, he 
being sure that they would not. 

" 3. Concerning himself, he said, that before he would sign 
any association, or would lift his hand up against his King, he 
would rather suffer that his head shall be cut off. 

" Further he replied, that if we should make any unlawful 
use of the gaol, he would oppose it, and also he mentions, that 
there have many unfair means been used for increasing the as- 
sociation and uniting the people ; for he was informed by credi- 
ble gentlemen in New- York that they were obliged to unite, 
otherwise they could not live there; and that he was informed 
by good authority, that likewise two thirds of the Canajoharie 
and German Flatts people have been forced to sign the articles ; 
and in his opinion the Boston people are open rebels, and the 
other Colonies have joined them." 

Immediately on receiving this report, the Committee deter- 
mined to bring the question of the occupancy of the gaol to an 
issue. They therefore directed that two of their prisoners, 
named Lewis Clement and Peter Bo wen,* who had been sen- 

* A subsequent document induces the belief that these prisoners were Indians, 
though it is not so distinctly stated. 



1775.] SIR JOHN JOHNSON. Ill 

tenced to certain periods of confinement for political offences, 
should be forthwith conveyed to the prison, under a guard com- 
manded by Captain Jacob Seeber, with instructions, that 
should the gaoler refuse to receive them into close confinement 
for the time specified, or should they be opposed by Sir John, 
then Captain Seeber was to bring them to the house of " our 
" voted and elected new high sheriff, John Frey, Esq. who shall 
" immediately inform thereof our chairman for further direc- 
" tions." 

Sir John did not allow the Committee to take possession of 
the gaol, and they were obliged to fit up a private house as a 
temporary prison ; while some of their prisoners were sent to 
Albany, and others as far as Hartford for safe keeping.* The 
Committee apprised the Provincial Congress of their proceed- 
ings in this matter, from which body they received the follow- 
ing communication in reply : — 

" Dec. 9th. The Congress have this day entered into the 
consideration of your letter of the 2Sth of October, and are of 
opinion that your application to Sir John Johnson, requesting 
an answer from him whether he would allow his tenants to 
form themselves into companies, and associate with their 
brethren of your County, according to the resolves of the Con- 
tinental Congress, for the defence of our liberties, was impro- 
per with respect to him, and too condescending on your part, 
as it was a matter that came properly within your province : 
and to which we doubt not but you are competent, as you have 
a line of conduct prescribed to you by Congress. With respect 
to your second question, whether he would take any active part 
in the controversy at present existing between Great Britain 
and her Colonies, we conceive it to be very proper, and thank 
you for information on that head. 

" As to the third question, we conceive that he has no claim 
nor title to the court-house and gaol in the County, as we are cre- 
dibly told that his father. Sir William Johnson, did in his lifetime 
convey the same to two gentlemen in trust for the use of your 
County. However, as an attempt to use the same for the pur- 
pose of confining persons inimical to our country may be pro- 
ductive of bad consequences, we beg leave to recommend to you, 

* Campbell's Annals, 

19 



112 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

to procure some other place which may answer the end of a 
gaol. And give you our advice not to molest Sir John as long 
as he shall continue inactive, and not impede the measures ne- 
cessary to be carried into execution from being completed. 

" We are extremely sorry that Mr. White has, by his impru- 
dent conduct, rendered himself justly offensive to you. The 
best advice we can give you in this unpleasant affair is, that if you 
are of opinion that his continuing in his office will be danger- 
ous to your liberties, then that you permit the office to be ex- 
ercised by his deputies. And that you draw up a petition, get 
as many persons of your County to sign it as possible, and pre- 
sent it to the Governor of the Colony, setting forth that it is 
very disagreeable to the people in general that he should exe- 
cute that office, and praying that he may be displaced, and his 
place supplied by a person who would be acceptable to the peo- 
ple of your County. 

" We are respectfully, 
" Gentlemen, 

" To Nicholas Herkimer, Esq. ) " Your most obedient 

Chairman, and the > " humble Servants, 

Committee of Tryon County. 3 " By order, 

Nathl. WooDHULL, Pres." 

The first act of positive hostility on the part of the Indians, 
during this bitter and bloody contest, was committed in the 
Autumn of the present year. General Schuyler having been 
obliged temporarily to leave the northern army in consequence 
of ill health, the command devolved upon General Montgome- 
ry, who had advanced a second time upon St. Johns and cap- 
tured the fortress — Sir Guy Carleton having been repulsed by 
Colonel Warner at Longueil, in his attempt to cross the St, 
Lawrence and advance to its succor. It appears that, either 
in the first or second attack upon St. Johns, or in both, the 
Americans had been opposed by some of the Mohawk Indians 
— those, doubtless, who liad accompanied Guy Johnson to Ca- 
nada. Hence, on the 27th of October, the Tryon County 
Committee "unanimously resolved, that a letter should be 
" sent to the sachems of the Canajoharie Castle, in regard to 
" the return and present abiding of some Indrahs in their 
" Castle from Canada, who have acted inimically against us, 



1775.] HOSTILITY OF THE INDIANS. 113 

" and fought against our united forces near the fort St. John, 
" not to give shelter to such real enemies among them." 

No copy of the letter written pursuant to this resolution has 
been preserved. It is noted among the papers of the Commit- 
tee, however, that the sachems and warriors of Canajoharie 
Castle appeared before them in person, and made the following 
answer to their epistle of remonstrance : — 

"Brothers: We are thankful to you that you opened to 
us your hearts, and we comprehend to be all true what you 
wrote to us. We live together. Gentlemen, and we shall do our 
endeavour to answer you upon all the contents of your letter, 
as much as we can remember thereof 

" Brothers : We have not yet forgotten our agreement 
made in Albany. It is not such a long time ago, we can re- 
member it yet. Although we have not put it in writing, it is 
yet in our memory. We can remember very well that there 
have been twelve Governors with whom we agreed, and we made 
a level road to the Six Nations, to Boston, and to Philadelphia. 

" Brothers : We have, as well as the Senecas and others 
of the Six Nations, been very glad to make that road, where 
we went and shall go. It is all peace and very good. The 
Nations have been very glad for the making of that good road, 
and it is all peaceable. But we are afraid you make the first 
disturbance on the sea-side — because you are a fighting already. 
They have made that good road, but they will not hope that 
we should spill blood upon it. You said in your letter that 
you cannot keep your young people back, but we think you are 
masters of them, and could order them. Some of our young 
people are now in Canada, and perhaps they are killed ; but if 
so be, our hearts will not be sore about it. 

" There are some young people, among them here, whom 
we could persuade to stay and not to meddle themselves with 
tlie fighting of the white people ; but some went yet away, and 
we are glad to see them back again, because they have been 
debauched to go away. 

" Brothers : The Six Nations are now speaking about that 
good road, and are glad ; but if they shall perhaps pass that road 
and see so||e blood spilled upon it, then they would be surprised. 

" Brothers : We have made a very strong agreement of 
friendship together, and we beg you will not break it for sake 



114 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

of some wrong done by some, who have been debauched. You 
will drop it, we hope, for the present." 

The Committee replied to them in substance, that if those of 
their young men who had first spilt the blood of their white 
brethren, had come back repenting of their conduct, they 
should first have gone to the Committee, and manifested their 
sorrow to them. Far from doing so, however, one of them, 
named William Johnson, had, on the contrary, boasted of his 
hostile proceedings, and spoken boldly against the cause of the 
Americans. 

On the 30th of October, at the request of some of the chiefs 
of the Mohawk Castle, John Marbatt was deputed to hold a 
conference with them, in reference to the imprisonment of Cle- 
ment and Bowen. Marbatt says, in his letter to General Herki- 
mer, Chairman of the Committee : — 

" The heads of the Mohawk Castle met me at Abraham 
Quackenbush's, and made a speech to me. They said we 
were all brothers, and all brought up together, and hoped that 
we might remain so. They said they were very sorry for their 
two brothers, Lewis Clement and Peter Bowen, and desired 
that they might be discharged. It was so hard for them to see 
their brethren in confinement that they could not rest. Where- 
on I told them there was a law ; and if any of our brothers 
transgressed the law, they must expect to be punished by the 
law. I told them that any one that behaved [well] should not be 
disturbed at all. But they begged that as they had transacted 
this, [offended] before the law took effect, they might be dis- 
charged ; and if ever they transgressed again, they had nothing 
to say against punishing them. They told me that they want- 
ted to go a hunting, and could not go from home contented 
imtil this matter was settled. They desired me to give them an 
answer against next Saturday. Gentlemen, I hope you will 
settle this matter for peace's sake. Your compliance will much 
oblige your friend and humble servant," &c. 

The speech from the Canajoharie Indians, just recited, 
if closely scrutinised, might appear somewhat equivocal. 
Still, it was not belligerent ; and, when taken in connexion 
with the preceding letter, the presumption is reas^able, that 
the Mohawks remaining about their ancient castles, had not 
yet determined to swerve from their engagement of neutrality. 



1775.] PROGRESS OF EVENTS. 115 

Such was the progress of the Revolution, in the County of 
Tryon, down to the close of 1775. A rapid glance at contem- 
poraneous events not already noted, occurring elsewhere, will 
close the history of the year. The battle of Bunker Hill had 
aroused all New England to arms ; and by the time of Gene- 
ral Washington's arrival to assume the command, during the 
first week in July, the British forces were so effectually shut up 
in Boston, as to be obliged to send out small vessels to a distance 
for supplies. To cut up this species of coast-wise commerce, 
the Colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut 
each fitted out two small cruisers, before Congress had made a 
suggestion respecting a naval armament. The first avowal of 
offensive hostility against the mother country, was contained 
in the act of the Massachusetts Congress for fitting out a naval ar- 
mament ; and among the first fruits was the capture, by Captain 
Manly of Marblehead, of a large British ordnance brig, laden 
with several elegant brass pieces of artillery, a large supply of 
small arms, tools and utensils of all' warlike descriptions, &c. 
Three days afterward Captain Manly captured three more 
British ships laden with military stores. South Carolina was 
at the same time making vigorous preparations for war, but 
had not exceeding 3,000 lbs of gunpowder within the province. 
By fitting out a fast sailing vessel, however, they were ena- 
bled to intercept a supply vessel off St. Augustine, and obtain 
a large and timely addition to their stores — 15,000 pounds of 
gunpowder alone. Meantime the affairs of the Colonies con- 
tinued to form the leading and most exciting topic of debate in 
the British Parliament. Lord North, who, it is now known, 
acted throughout this great struggle more in obedience to the 
positive requisitions of the King, than in accordance with his 
own private wishes, insisted upon the strongest measures of 
compulsion. General Conway, Colonel Lutterell, Mr. James 
Grenville, the Duke of Grafton, and Lord Lyttleton, spoke in 
favor of concession to the Colonies, and argued in favor of re- 
pealing every enactnient respecting the matters in dispute with 
the Colonies, subsequent to the year 1 763. The ministers con- 
tended that they might as well acknowledge the independence 
of the Colonies at once. Mr. Burke, during this season, made 
his great speech on American affairs, and introduced his con- 
ciliatory bill, proposing "a renunciation of the exercise of tax- 



116 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

" ation, without at all interfering with the question of right. 
" It preserved the power of levying duties, for the regulation of 
" commerce ; but the money so raised was to be at the disposal 
" of the several general assemblies. The tea duty was to be 
" repealed, and a general amnesty granted." This proposition, 
though regarded with more favor than the others, was rejected ; 
and the Administration was sustained in the policy of sending a 
large sea and land force against the Colonies, accompanied with 
offers of mercy upon a proper submission.* The Continental 
Congress, however, still continued its efforts to prevent a final 
separation; and another address to the King was adopted, be- 
seeching the interposition of his royal authority to afford relief 
from their afflicting fears and jealousies, and restore harmony by 
the adoption of such measures as would effect a permanent recon- 
ciliation. This petition, signed by John Hancock, was presented 
in Parliament on the 7th of December, and gave rise to several 
motions for a pacification — all of which were rejected.! 

The military operations of the Autumn were chiefly confined 
to the expedition against Canada. Lord Dunmore, it is true, 
had given several additional impulses to the Revolutionary 
spirit in Virginia, by the manner of his opposition ; and the 
enemy had still farther exasperated the people of New England 
by burning the town of Falmouth, in the north-eastern part of 
Massachusetts. Having timely notice, the people fled from the 
town, which was furiously bombarded, and 139 dwelling- 
houses and 278 warehouses were burnt. The invasion of Ca- 
nada, by Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, has already been 
incidentally mentioned. General Schuyler had issued a suitable 
proclamation to the inhabitants of Canada, on entering that ter- 
ritory ; but he was obliged by ill health to relinquish the com- 
mand to General Montgomery. St. John's surrendered on the 
3d of November ; but while the siege was pending. Colonel 
Ethan Allen, with thirty-eight of his Green Mountain boys, 
was captured, and sent to England in irons.J Allen deserved 
his fate, however, for his rashness and disobedience of orders. 
Still, he was very near capturing Montreal with the small 
party he had led in advance, as was subsequently admitted by 
one of the British officers. 

The fort at Chamblee fell into the hands of Montgomery, 

* Holmes's Annals, Par. Register. _ f Idem. { Idem. 



1775.] CAMPAIGN IN CANADA. 117 

together with a large quantity of miUtary stores, which were 
of great use ; among them were three tons of powder. Montreal 
was next taken by the Provincials — General Carleton es- 
caping in a boat with muffled oars to Three Rivers, from 
whence he hastened to Quebec. Montgomery, with his little 
army, was swift to follow him thither ; where his arrival had 
been anticipated by Colonel Arnold, with upward of 700 New 
England infantry and riflemen, with whom he had performed the 
incredible service of traversing the unexplored forest, from the 
Kennebec to the mouth of the Chaudiere. Uniting the forces 
of Arnold with his own, Montgomery laid siege to Quebec on 
the 1st of December. His artillery, however, was too light to 
make any impression upon its walls, and it was at length de- 
termined, if possible, to carry the town by a combined assault 
from two directions — one division to be led by Montgomery and 
the other by Arnold. The enterprise was undertaken on the 
31st of December, and the year closed by the repulse of both 
divisions and the fall of Montgomery. 

The success which had marked the American arms in the 
early part of the Canadian campaign, made a strong impres- 
sion upon the Caughnawaga Indians. The Canadians, gene- 
rally, were exceedingly averse to engaging in the unnatural 
contest,* and were strongly inclined to favor the cause of the 
Colonies ; and, notwithstanding the descent of Brant and the 
Mohawks to Montreal, and the solicitations of Governor Carle- 
ton, the Caughnawagas sent a deputation to General Washing- 
ton, at Cambridge, as early as the month of August, avowing 
their readiness to assist the Americans in the event of an ex- 
pedition into Canada. t This assurance was fulfilled. In a 
letter from Sir Guy Carleton to General Gage, written in 
August, which was intercepted, the Canadian Governor said — 
" Many of the Indians have gone over to them (the Americans), 
*• and large numbers of the Canadians are with them." " I had 
" hopes of holding out for this year, though I seem abandoned 
" by all the world, had the savages remained firm. I cannot 
" blame these poor people for securing themselves, as they see 
" multitudes of the enemy at hand, and no succour from any 
" part, though it is now four months since their operations 
" against us first began."; The subsequent reverses of the 

* Letter of Washington to the president of Congress, Aug. 4th, 1775. 
t Letter of Washington to Gen. Schuyler. i Sparks. 



118 LIFE OF BRANT. [1775. 

Americans, however, changed the masters of those Indians, and 
they were ere long found warring in the ranks of the Crown. 

But all the Indians did not join the British standard. Not- 
withstanding that the Delawares had been engaged in the Cre- 
sap war, the year before, they refused the solicitations of the 
British emissaries and the Senecas to take up the hatchet with 
them in this contest. A meeting of Indians was held in Pitts- 
burgh, to deliberate upon the question, at which a select depu- 
tation of the Senecas attended. Captain White Eyes, a sensi- 
ble and spirited warrior of the Lenape, boldly declared that he 
would not embark in a war, to destroy a people born on the 
same soil with himself The Americans, he said, were his 
friends and brothers, and no nation should dictate to him or 
his tribe the course they should pursue.* 

Heckewelder. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Lord Dunmore — Glance at the South — Suspicious conduct of Sir John Johnson- 
Conduct of the Tories in Tryon County — Gen. Schuyler directed by Congress 
to march into that County and disarm the Tories — Preliminary mission to the 
Lower Mohawks — Message to them — Their displeasure and reply — March of 
Schuyler — Meets the Indians at Schenectady — Interview and speeches — Advance 
of Schuyler — Letter to Sir John Johnson — Intei-vievv — Negotiations of capitula- 
tion — Terms proposed — Schuyler advances to Caughnawaga — Joined by Tryon 
County Militia — Farther correspondence with Sir John — Interview with the In- 
dian mediators — Terms of surrender adjusted — Schuyler marches to Johns- 
town — Sir John, his household, and the Highlanders, disarmed — Troops scour 
the country to bring in the loyalists — Disappointment as to the supposed Tory 
Depot of warlike munitions — Return of Schuyler to Albany — Resolution of Con- 
gress — Additional trouble with Sir John — Preparations for his seizure — Expedi- 
tion of Col. Dayton — Flight of the Baronet and his partisans to Canada — Their 
sufferings — And subsequent conduct — How the violation of his parole was con- 



The dawn of the New Year was lighted up by the confla- 
gration of Norfolk, by order of Lord Dunmore, the royal Go- 
vernor of Virginia. His Lordship had previously retired with 
his adherents to the fleet ; and this act of Vandalism was di- 
rected by way of retaliating upon the Whigs of that borough, 
for having refused supplies to the Liverpool man of war. The 
people themselves destroyed the buildings nearest the water, 
in order to deprive the ships even of those sources of supply. 
After cruising for a time on the coast of Virginia, and being 
every where repulsed — some of his ships having been driven on 
shore, and their crews captured and imprisoned by the Colonists 
— his Lordship was obliged to destroy those of his vessels which 
were not sea-worthy, and seek refuge himself in Florida and 
the West Indies. Another incident adverse to the royal arms, 
was the defeat, by the Provincials under General Moore, of 
General M'Donald, (commissioned by Governor Martin,) in his 
attempts to bring North Carolina to obedience. The battle re- 
sulting in this defeat was gallantly fought at Moore's Creek 
Bridge, by Colonels Caswell and Lillington, commanding 
about 1000 minute men and mihtia. A large quantity of arms 
fell into the hands of the Provincials ; and the defeat, equally 
unexpected and decisive, greatly depressed the spirits of the 
loyalists in that quarter. 

Resuming the history of the Mohawk Valley : although the 
20 



120 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

Autumn of the preceding year had passed quietly away in that 
region, yet no small degree of uneasiness was created, early in 
the winter, by the suspicious conduct of Sir John Johnson ; 
heightened, as will appear in the sequel, by false representa- 
tions sent forth by a man who, in the end, proved to be an im- 
postor. Such were the spirit of the times moreover, and the 
jealousies mutually entertained, that it is more than probable 
the measures of Sir John were concerted in consequence of 
apprehensions honestly indulged, and in all likelihood awaken- 
ed by the same or a kindred imposture. At all events Sir John 
was actively engaged in defensive preparations, with a view, as 
it was believed, of throwing up fortifications around the baro- 
nial hall. His adherents, as we have seen, were numerous, 
particularly among the Scotch Highlanders, by several hun- 
dreds of whom he was surrounded ; and reports became rife, 
that, in addition to these, the works he was erecting were to be 
garrisoned by three hundred Indians, to be let loose upon the 
settlements as opportunities might occur. 

It was undoubtedly true that the Tories of that region were 
preparing actively to espouse the royal cause, and enlistments 
for the King's service, it is very likely, were secretly making. 
Information to this effect was laid before Congress in Decem- 
ber. It was also declared, by a man named Connell, that a 
considerable quantity of arms and ammunition, and other war- 
like articles, had been collected and concealed by the Tories at 
Johnstown, to be used when the proper moment for action ar- 
rived. The facts disclosed by Connell were supported by his 
deposition ; whereupon a resolution was adopted by Congress, 
directing General Schuyler to be informed of these circum- 
stances, and requesting him to adopt the most speedy and effec- 
tual measures for securing the said arms and military stores ; 
for disarming the loyalists, apprehending their leaders, and 
taking such measures in general as might be judged necessary 
to ensure the tranquility of the frontier.* This resolution was 
received by General Schuyler at Albany early in January, and 
no time was lost in concerting measures for its execution. 

* The sum of forty dollars was appropriated by Congress for this object ; and 
the Special Committee having the subject in charge, were directed to count the gold 
and silver in the treasury, and forward the same to General Schuyler under a guard ! 
— Vide Jour. Con. 



177G.] EXPEDITION TO TRYON COUNTY. 121 

General Schuyler having at that time no troops at his disposal, 
was under the necessity of communicating with the sub-com- 
mittee of safety of Albany County, for which purpose, in order 
that a knowledge of the business with which he was charged 
might not transpire, he previously administered to them the 
oath of secrecy. They were at first embarrassed in devising a 
pretext for the preparations it was necessary to make for the 
expedition ; but the opportune arrival of a letter and an affida 
vit, (probably from Connell,) Irom Try on County, containing 
accounts exactly suited to the emergency, afforded ample rea- 
sons for a call upon the militia. General Schuyler at first 
supposed that a force of three hundred men, with the assistance 
they would be certain to receive from the Whigs of Tiyoii 
County, would be amply sufficient. It was determined, how- 
ever, in order to produce a deeper effect upon the loyalists 
against whom they were proceeding, to march with a force of 
seven hundred men. 

Nevertheless, in order to preserve the good-will of the Indians 
of the Lower Mohawk Castle,* and guard against taking them 
by surprise or giving them unnecessary alarm, Mr. Bleecker, 
the Indian interpreter, residing at Albany, was despatched to 
the Castle on the 1.5th, charged with a belt and the following 
message to the Indians : — 

" Brothers : I am sent by the Commissioners of the United 
Colonies, to acquaint you that the brethren of Albany have 
received information that several persons in and about Johns 
town are busy in enlisting men to cut our throats, and are ma- 
king other hostile preparations to assist in enslaving this coun 
try, and to prevent and stop up the road of communication to 
the Westward. Your Albany Brothers, on this alarming occa- 
sion, have collected their warriors, and are now sending them 
up the river in order to inquire into the truth of the report, and 
act thereupon as they may judge needful. 

" Brothers : Be not alarmed at these preparations ; nothing 
is intended against you ; our own safety and liberty impel us 
to this measure ; you can rest perfectly satisfied that we will 
invariably pursue our friendly disposition towards you, and ex- 



♦ The Mohawks of the Lower Castle, with Little Abraham, had not been drawn 
away by Thayendanegea and Guy Johnson. 



122 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

pect that you will, agreeable to the promises you made us at 
Albany, take no part in the present struggle. 

" Brothers : We promised you last Summer that Sir John 
and his family should not be molested while he took no mea- 
sures against us. We are yet of that mind ; and if he has acted 
,as an honest man, he need not fear any danger. 

" Brothers : Lest the preparations and march into your 
country should alarm the Six Nations, we desire that you will 
send some of your young men with this speech to the end of 
the House of the Six Nations, that no uneasiness may take 
place in their minds." 

The Indians were by no means pleased with the proposed 
invasion of the Valley ; anticipating, probably, an injurious ef- 
fect upon their own people, and perhaps injury to Sir John, to 
whom they were sincerely attached. After due deliberation, 
Mr. Bleecker was sent back with a belt containing the follow- 
ing reply to the Commissioners, or, in other words, to General 
Schuyler : — 

" Brothers : This belt we present to the Commissioners of 
the twelve United Colonies and our Brothers of Albany, and 
desire them that the troops that were coming up should not 
come up so speedily ; that perhaps a mode might be pointed 
out to have it settled in an easier manner ; that perhaps, in case 
the troops came up, it might be a means to stop up the road, 
and perhaps create an uneasiness in their minds, as they and 
Sir John were, as it were, one blood ; and that the General 
should do all in his power to have it settled without the troops 
going up ; that he was a wise man, and should set his thoughts 
a thinking to have it settled, by appointing three or four per- 
sons to treat with Sir John about it ; that they would retain 
the belt sent by the Commissioners till such time as they heard 
from the Commissioners, and in case the troops did not come, 
then they would send the belt forward to the other nations ; 
but if they came up, then they would keep the same in their 
hands ; that three of their nation should immediately go 
to Sir John, and desire him to remain silent and be at peace ; 
and that in case there were any in Johnstown that were 
Tories, they would settle them, and make them remain peace- 
able. That all the uneasiness in the minds of Sir John, and 
tne others in Johnstown, originates from accounts that they 



1776.] INTERVIEW WITH THE INDIANS, 123 

receive from people in Albany ; that they daily have accounts 
from thence that the New England people are coming up to de- 
stroy Sir John and his possessions." 

Accompanying this message, the Squaws also took the sub- 
ject in hand, and charged the interpreter with a belt with the 
tbllowing message on their own behalf: — 

" Brothers, the Commissioners of the United Colonies and 
the people of Albany : This belt we present you, and hereby 
renew the covenant that was made last summer ; and we beg 
that no disturbance shall be made up here, and that the said 
covenant may not thereby be broken : that in case the troops 
were to come up, it might create great uneasiness, as they and 
Sir John were of one blood ; and that in case Sir John was dis- 
turbed, it might touch their blood, and we beg some other mode 
may be pointed out whereby this uneasiness may be settled." 

General Schuyler, however, did not wait for the return of 
his messenger from the Indians, but proceeded to Schenectady 
on the 16th, at the head of a strong division of militia, and ac- 
companied by General Ten Broeck, Colonel Varick, and se 
veral other officers. The militia turned out with great alacrity, 
notwithstanding the severity of the weather and the badness of 
the roads. On the evening of his arrival at Schenectady, 
General Schuyler was met by a deputation of the Mohawks, 
headed by Little Abraham, who, in a very haughty tone,* ad- 
dressed him as follows : — 

" We intended to have gone down to Albany in order to 
speak to you ; but thank God that he has given us an oppor- 
tunity to meet you here, as we have some matters to commu- 
nicate to you." 

To which General Schuyler replied with corresponding bre- 
vity : — 

" I am very glad to see you here, and I shall be glad to hear 
what the Brothers have to say, as my ears are always open to 
them." 

Whereupon Abraham proceeded to address the General and 
his associates as follows : — 

* General Schuyler's official report, from which document the whole narrative of 
this expedition is drawn. This document, it is believed, has never yet been pub- 
lished entire, and has only recently been discovered at Washington, by Peter 
Force, Esq. who obligingly favored the author with the use of it. 



124 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

" Brothers : You lately sent to our place four men, who ar- 
rived to us last Sunday morning.* They told us they were 
sent up to us by you to inform us of those military preparations 
which were making down in this quarter. By them you let 
us know that you thought it not prudent to send armed men 
amongst us without previously notifying us. Likewise, Bro- 
thers, your messengers informed us of the reasons of your com- 
ing in this manner. You informed us that you had heard that 
there were a number of men embodied at Sir John's, about 
Johnstown. You told us likewise, that as soon as they had 
completed their body, they intended to destroy the settlements 
up and down the river. You informed us that you were com- 
ing up to inquire into the truth of the report, and who it was 
that gave out commissions, and what were their designs. At 
the same time you assured us that no harm was intended 
against us, the Six Nations, as we had last summer publicly en- 
gaged that we would take no part against you in your dispute 
with the great King over the Great Water. 

" Brothers : You told us that you would come to search 
into the truth of the report, and you assured us also that you 
would not be the first aggressor, and that it should be our own 
fault if any blood was spilt. You told us that you would ac- 
quaint the Lower Castle first of the design, that they should send 
up to the Upper Castle, and they to the Oneida, and they to 
Onondaga, and so through the whole Six Nations. 

" Brothers : We thanked your messengers for the speech 
delivered to us, and we would consider of it for some time to 
return them an answer accordingly. Brothers, a small number 
of us who take care of the news met in council on this occa- 
sion. We thanked your messengers for informing us first 
of your designs. We said we knew the agreement which was 
entered into with the whole twelve United Colonies. At that 
meeting you remember it was agreed to remove all obstacles 
out of the way of the path of peace, to keep it so that we might 
pass and repass without being annoyed. 

" Brothers : you told us that you came to inquire into the 

* The Mohawk chief seems here to refer to an embassy to their castle a few 
days previous to that performed by Mr. Bleecker, not mentioned by General Schuy- 
ler. Or, perhaps, a wrong date was given to the message transmitted by the inter- 
preter. 



1776.] SPEECH OF LITTLE ABRAHAM. 125 

truth of the report, which might be done by 4 or 6 without 
any danger in making the inquiry. We proposed your send- 
ing up six persons to inquire into the truth of this matter, as it 
would be a shame to interrupt them, as no person would be so 
mean to give them any obstruction. As for sendmg your belt 
forward, we thought to retain it until we had heard whether 
our proposal had been accepted or no. And we desire that you 
would consider of this matter, and keep your troops at home, 
and let us know your mind ; and if, after considering of our pro- 
posals, you do not agree to them, that you will then let us know 
what you intend to do. They likewise sent word to you that 
when they had heard from you, whether you accepted of our 
proposals, we would then do as you desire in sending up 
the news. 

" Brothers : We expected an answer to our proposals ; 
but none arrived until we were informed by a woman who 
returned from Albany, that those preparations were actually 
making, and that troops were actually marching in the country. 
We then. Brothers, took the matter into consideration, and de- 
termined it was best for a party to meet you, and you see us 
this day, Brothers, arrived. We come, Brothers, to beg of you 
that you take good care and prudence of what you are going 
about. We beg of you, Brothers, to remember the engagement 
which was made with the twelve United Colonies at our inter- 
view last summer, as we then engaged to open the path of 
peace, and to keep it undefiled from blood. At the same time 
something of a different nature made its appearance. You as- 
sured us, Brothers, that if any were found in our neighborhood 
inimical to us, you would treat them as enemies. The 
Six Nations then supposed that the son of Sir William was 
pointed at by that expression. We then desired particularly 
that he might not be injured, as it was not in his power to in- 
jure the cause ; and that therefore he might not be molested. 
The Six Nations then said they would not concern themselves 
with your operations in other parts, but particularly desired that 
this path might be free from blood. And now. Brothers, we 
repeat it again ; we beg of you to take good care and not to spill 
any blood in this path, and the more especially, Brothers, as it 
is but of this day that the Six Nations had so agreeable an in- 
terview with the Colonies, and our chiefs are now hunting in 



126 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

the woods, and not dreaming that there is any prospect that 
this path is or will be defiled with blood. 

'■' We informed you, Brothers, that we had heard of a woman, 
that you were advancing, and that you had cannon. We then 
took it into consideration. We thought it strange that cannon 
should be brought into the countiy, as the twelve United Colo- 
nies had so lately opened the path of peace. As you will re- 
member that this path was opened last Spring, and the Six Na- 
tions agreed to keep it open. We then thought what could in- 
fluence the twelve United Colonies to open this path, and from 
the present appearance it is as if with a design that the cannon 
should pass free from all obstruction. 

" Brothers, attend ! It was your request, and a matter 
agreed upon by the twelve United Colonies, that we should 
mind nothing but peace ; therefore. Brothers, as we mean to 
observe that agreement, we have expressed ourselves as above, 
and as Brothers : we mind nothing but peace. We look upon 
ourselves as mediators between the two parties ; therefore, 
Brothers, as your messengers declared that you would not be 
the aggressors, we informed Sir John of this, and earnestly 
begged of him not to be the aggressor, or the means of spilling 
blood ; and at the same time assured him, that if we found that 
he should be the aggressor, we would not pay any farther at- 
tention to him ; and likewise told him, that if our Brothers of 
the United Colonies were the aggressors, we should treat them 
in the same manner. This is what we told Sir John, as we 
look upon ourselves to be the mediators between both parties, 
and, as we have said before, desired him not to be the aggressor. 
To which Sir John replied, that we knew his disposition very 
well, and that he had no mind to be the aggressor. He assured 
us that he would not be the aggressor, but if the people came 
up to take away his life, he would do as well as he could, as 
the law of nature justified every person to stand in his own 
defence. 

" According to the news we have heard, it is as though Sir 
John would shut up the path of peace in that quarter ; but it 
s impossible he should do it, as he had but a mere handful of 
friends ; but, Brothers, if this company, who now are passing 
by. should go up, and any thing bad should happen, we shall 
look on you as shutting up the path. 



1776.] SPEECH OF LITTLE ABRAHAM. 127 

" It has been represented to you, Brothers, that it seems that 
Sir John is making military preparations, and that he is making 
a fort round his house ; but. Brothers, as we hve so near him, 
we should certainly know it if any thing of that nature 
should be done, especially as we go there so frequently on ac- 
count of our father, the minister, who sometimes performs di- 
vine service at that place. We have never seen any hostile 
preparations made there ; there is no cannon, or any thing of 
that kind, and all things remain in the same situation it was in 
the lifetime of Sir William. 

"Brothers: We would not conceal anything from you. 
It would not be right to use deceit, neither do we mean to do 
it. The minds of our counsellors are very much grieved ; and 
aggrieved at that part of the disposition of those whom we may 
call our warriors ; there are some among us of different minds, 
as there are among you, Brothers. Our counsellors, remem- 
bering the covenant we last Summer made with our Brethren, 
the Twelve Colonies, have all along strongly urged our war- 
riors to peace, and have checked them when a contrary dispo- 
sition appeared. Our minds are very much aggrieved to find 
any of our warriors of different sentiment. We have hitherto 
been able to restrain them, and hope still to be able to do it, for 
matters are not now carried to extremity ; but if they are, our 
warriors will not be restrained, because they will think them- 
selves deceived if this military force comes into the country. 

"We have declared to you, Brothers, that we would not de- 
ceive, and that we mean to declare our minds to you openly 
and freely. We, the sachems, have all along inculcated to the 
warriors sentiments of peace, and they have hitherto been 
obedient to us, though there have been frequent rumours that 
they should be disturbed ; yet we have hitherto been able to 
calm their minds. But now. Brothers, so large a party coming, 
alarms the minds of our warriors. They are determined. Bro- 
thers, to go and be present at your interview with Sir John, 
and determined to see and hear every thing that should be 
there transacted ; and if it shall then appear that this party shall 
push matters to extremes, we then cannot be accountable for 
any thing that may happen. But as for us. Brothers, the 
counsellors are fully determined ever to persevere in the path of 
peace. 

21 



128 LIFE OP BRANT. [1776. 

" Brothers; attend ! Though I have finished what I Iiad 
purposed to say, yet I will add one thing more. When the 
news of your approach arrived at our town, it caused great 
confusion ; some were ready to take to their arms, observing 
that those reports respecting the unfriendly disposition of the 
Colonies were now verified. I begged of them, Brothers, to 
possess their minds in peace for a few days. I told them that 
I myself would go to Albany, and inquire into the truth of the 
matter ; I was so conscious of my own innocency, that no hos- 
tile appearance could deter me, however formidable. I there- 
fore desired them to sit still until my return, which might be in 
two days if I went to Albany. This, Brothers, is the present 
situation of our people. They are waiting to see what news I 
bring." 

" Brothers : When 1 made this request to the warriors that 
they should sit still till my return, they told me that they 
would, which they are now in expectation of, and will do no- 
thing till I get back. But, Brothers, after my return I will re- 
peat to them the speech you will now make to me, and if any 
of our people should still persist to be present at your inter 
view with Sir John, we hope, Brethren, you will not think 
hard of us as counsellors, as it is not in our power to rule them 
as we please. If they should go, and any thing evil should 
haj}pen, ive beg to know, Brothers, what treatment we may 
expect who remain at home in peace. 

" Brothers : This is all we have to say. This is the bu- 
siness which has brought u$ down, and we now expect an an- 
swer to carry home to our people." 

To which General Schuyler delivered the following answer : 
. " Brothers of the Mohawk Nation : We, the Commis- 
sioners appointed by the Congress, and your Brothers of Albany 
and Schenectady, have paid great attention to the speech you 
have delivered us. We now desire you to open your ears, and 
attentively listen to what we have to say in answer. 

" Brothers : It pleased us to hear you declare that you 
would speak your minds freely. We assure you that we shall 
do the same, and hide nothing from you of what is in our 
thoughts. 

" Brothers : We were in hopes that the message which we 
sent you by Mr. Bleecker would have eased your minds, and 



1776.] GEN. Schuyler's reply. 129 

have convinced you that no hostile intentions existed against 
you or any other Indians ; for if they had, we would not have 
sent you that message, neither would we have supplied you 
with powder, as we did last Summer and again the other day. 

"Brothers: We are extremely sorry that you have not 
complied with our request, to send the speech which we sent 
you by Mr. Bleecker, to the Six Nations in the manner which 
we required. 

" Brothers : You told us that five or six men would have 
been sufficient to go to Johnstown and inquire what was trans- 
acting there, and that these people would be in no danger, as 
it would be a shame to interrupt them. We acknowledge, 
Brothers, that it would have been a shame if we had sent them 
and they had been interrupted ; but we have full proofs that 
many people in Johnstown, and the neighbourhood thereof, 
have for a considerable time past made preparations to carry 
into execution the wicked designs of the King's evil coun- 
sellors. 

Brothers : It is very true that last Summer the United 
Colonies promised that the path to the Indian country should 
be kept open. They again repeat that promise ; and although 
it is by the special order of Congress that this body of troops 
are now marching up, yet it is not to shut the path, but to keep 
it open, and to prevent the people in and about Johnstown from 
cutting off the communication between us and our brethren of 
the Six Nations, and our other brethren living up the river. 

" Brothers : Although we have before observed that the 
people living in and about Johnstown are making hostile pre- 
parations against us, yet we will not shed a drop of their blood 
unless they refuse to come to an agreement by which we may 
be safe, or unless they oppose us with arms. We do not mean 
that any of our warriors should set their foot on any of the 
lands you possess, or that of the Six Nations, unless our ene- 
mies should take shelter there ; for those we are resolved to 
follow wherever they go. We again repeat, that we have no 
quarrel with you, and we do expect that you will not interfere 
in this family contest, but stand by as indifferent spectators, 
agreeable to the engagement of the Six Nations made to us last 
Summer at their own request. 

" Brothers : We assured you last Summer, that as we had 



130 LIFE OF BRANT. ' [1776, 

no quarrel with any Indians, we would not touch a hair of their 
heads ; yet when our warriors were at St. Johns, they were at- 
tacked by Indians. Two of your tribe, and some others, were 
killed. You have never blamed us for it, because you well 
knew that our lives are dear to us ; we have a right to kill any 
man who attempts to kill us. You ought, therefore, not to be 
surprised if we take every precaution to prevent being destroyed 
by the friends of the King's evil counsellors. 

" Brothers : In a httle time we may be called upon to go 
and fight against our enemies to the eastward, who are em- 
ployed by the King's evil counsellors ; and can you think it 
prudent that we should leave a set of people who are our ene- 
mies, in any part of the country, in such a situation as to be 
able to destroy our wives and children, and burn our houses 
in our absence ? Would you leave your wives and children in 
such a situation ? The wisdom by which you have conducted 
your affairs convinced us that you would not; and yet so cau- 
tious are we that no blood may be shed, that we shall send a 
letter to Sir John, inviting him to meet us on the road between 
this place and his house, which if he does, we make no doubt 
but every thing will be settled in an amicable manner ; and that 
he may be under no apprehensions, we do now assure you that 
if we do not come to an agreement, he will be permitted safely 
to return to his own house. 

" Brothers : We thank you that you have concealed no- 
thing from us, and we assure you that we scorn deceit as much 
as you do ; and therefore we shall now speak our minds freely 
on what you have said respecting the conduct which your 
warriors mean to hold. We have no objection, nay, we wish 
that you and they should be present, to hear what we shall pro- 
pose to Sir John and the people in and about Johnstown who 
are our enemies ; but we beg of you to tell your warriors, that 
although we have no quarrel with them, yet if we should be 
under the disagreeable necessity of lighting with our enemies, 
and your warriors should join them and fight against us, that 
we will do as we did at St. Johns, repel force by force. 

"Brothers : You have asked us, if your warriors should 
go and if any thing evil should happen, what treatment you 
may expect who remain at home in peace ? 

" Brothers : In the treaty held at Albany last Summer, you 



1776.] GEX. Schuyler's reply. 131 

and your warriors were present, and you and they jointly 
promised to remain neuter and not to interfere in this quarrel. 
Should your warriors, therefore, now take up arms against us, 
we must consider it as a breach of the treaty so far as it re- 
spects the lower Mohawk Castle ; of which breach we shall 
complain to our Brethren, the other nations, and at the same 
time lay the matter before our great council at Philadelphia, 
whose determination thereupon will be our future guide. 

" Brothers : We are surprised that the least doubt should 
remain on your minds with respect to our friendly intentions 
towards you, after the many instances we have given you of 
our love and friendship ; but we must impute it to the wicked 
insinuations of our mutual enemies, who wish for nothing so 
much as to see the ancient covenant which has so long subsist- 
ed between us broken. 

" Brothers : You have observed that you would pay no 
regard to that party that should be the first aggressor. We 
cannot be the aggressors ; for if our enemies in and about 
Johnstown had had no evil intentions against us, we should never 
have even come thus far with an army. Whoever takes up arms 
against another, although he has not yet struck, must be consider- 
ed as the aggressor, and not he who tries to prevent the blow. 

" Brothers : We have now freely and fully disclosed to you 
our minds. We hope you will remember what we have said, 
and repeat it to your Brothers, counsellors, and warriors ; and, 
lest you should not be able to recollect every part of this 
speech, you may have your Brothers Ka-ragh-qua-dirhon, and 
Ti-ze-de-ron-de-ron, [Deane and Bleecker,] interpreters, to at- 
tend you if it be agreeable to you. 

" Brothers : Your women have sent us a belt. We beg 
you to assure them of our regard, and to entreat them to pre- 
vent your warriors from doing any thing that would have the 
least tendency to incur our resentment, or interrupt that har- 
mony which we wish may subsist to the end of time." 

To this the Indians made the following brief reply : — 

" Brother Schuyler the Great Man, attend ! We 
have this evening heard what you have to say, and we are glad 
of it, and thank you for it. 

" Every thing that has been said to us. Brother, has been 
perfectly agreeable to us. 



132 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776, 

" I shall not attempt, Brother, to make a particular reply to 
every thing that lias been said to us. Indeed, it would not be 
proper at this time. 

" We are very glad, Brother, that you have determined to 
write to Sir John, requesting an interview with him in hopes of 
an amicable agreement. 

" Brother : You mention that it would be agreeable to you 
that the warriors and counsellors, or sachems, should attend. 

" Brother : We, the sachems, will attend, though we should 
do it at the risk of our lives. 

" Brother : We should be glad if you would inform us of 
the time and place of your interview with Sir John. You 
likewise told us, that if it was agreeable to us, that your inter- 
preters should attend to recapitulate the speech you have made, 
which likewise is agreeable to us ; and we desire that they may 
go with us, for by that means all mistakes may be prevented. 

" Brother : You may depend on it that we will use our 
utmost influence with our warriors to calm their minds. You 
may depend on it, likewise, that our sisters will use their ut- 
most influence for the same purpose." 

General Schuyler assured them again of his pacific inten- 
tions, and that nothing unpleasant should happen to them. He 
also informed them, that if they desired to attend the expedition 
to Johnstown, or to be present at the intended interview with 
Sir John, as mediators, they should be protected in that charac- 
ter. With this understanding they took their departure the 
same night. A letter, of which the following is a copy, was 
at the same time despatched to Sir John Johnson : — 

General Schuyler to Sir John Johnson. 

" Schenectady, Jan. 16, 1776. 

"Sir, 
"Information having been received that designs of the most 
dangerous tendency to the rights, liberties, property, and even 
lives of those ©f his Majesty's faithful subjects in America who 
are opposed to the unconstitutional measures of his ministry, 
have been formed in a part of the County of Tryon, I am or- 
dered to march a body of men into that County, to carry into 
execution certain resolutions of my superiors, and to contravene 
tliose dang-erous designs. 



1776.] CORRESPONDENCE WITH SIR JOHN. 133 

" Influenced, Sir, by motives of humanity, I wish to comply 
with my orders in a manner the most peaceable, that no blood 
may be shed. I therefore request that you will please to meet 
me to-morrow, at any place on my way to Johnstown, to which 
I propose then to march. For which purpose I do hereby give 
you my word of honour, that you, and such persons as you 
may choose should attend you, shall pass safe and unmolested 
to the place where you may meet me, and from thence back to 
the place of your abode. 

" Rutgers Bleecker and Henry Glen, Esqrs. are the bearers 
hereof, gentlemen who are entitled to your best attention, which 
I dare say they will experience, and by whom I expect you 
will favour me with an answer to this letter. 

" You will please to assure Lady Johnson, that whatever 
may be the result of what is now in agitation, she may rest 
perfectly satisfied that no indignity will be offered her. 
" I am. Sir, 
" To " Your humble Servant, 

" Sir John Johnson, Baronet.^'' " Ph. Schuyler." 

General Schuyler resumed his march on the morning of the 
17th — his forces constantly increasing, until before nightfall 
they numbered upward of three thousand. Having proceeded 
about sixteen miles from Schenectady, the expedition was met 
by Sir John, attended by several of his leading friends among 
the Scotchmen, and two or three others. The result of the in- 
terview was the proffer, by General Schuyler, of the following 
terms to Sir John and his retainers : — 

" Terms offered by the Honourable Philip Schuyler, Esq., 
Major-general in the army of the thirteen United Colonies, and 
commanding in the New- York department, to Sir John John- 
son, Baronet, and all such other persons in the County of Try- 
on as have evinced their intentions of supporting his Majesty's 
ministry, to carry into execution the unconstitutional measures 
of which the Americans so justly complain, and to prevent 
which they have been driven to the dreadful necessity of having 
recourse to arms. 

" First : That Sir John Johnson shall, upon his word of 
honour, immediately deliver up all cannon, arms, and other 
military stores, of what kind soever, which may be in his own 



134 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

possession, or which he has caused to be delivered into the 
possession of any persons whatsoever, either directly or indi- 
rectly, or that to his knowledge may be concealed in any part 
of the said County : That he shall distinguish all such mili- 
tary stores of what kind soever as belong to the Crown, or 
were furnished with the design of arming the Indians or the 
inhabitants of Tryon County, from those which may be private 
property, in order that a proper inventory may be taken of the 
last articles, that the same may be restored, or the value of 
them refunded, when this unhappy contest shall be over. 

" Secondly : General Schuyler, out of personal respect for 
Sir John, and from a regard to his rank, consents that Sir John 
shall retain for his own use a complete set of armor, and as 
much powder as may be sufficient for his domestic purposes. 

'•' Thirdly : That Sir John Johnson shall remain upon his 
parole of honour in any part of Tryon County which he may 
choose, to the eastward of the district of unless it 

should appear necessary to the Honourable the Continental 
Cono;ress to remove him to some other part of this, or any 
other Colony ; in which case he is immediately to comply with 
such orders as they may think proper to give for that purpose. 

" Fourthly : That the Scotch inhabitants of the said County 
shall, without any kind of exception, immediately deliver up 
all arms in their possession, of what kind soever they may be ; 
and that they shall each solemnly promise that they will not at 
any time hereafter, during the continuance of this unhappy 
contest, take up arms without the permission of the Continent- 
al Congress, or of their general officers ; — and for the more 
faithful performance of this article, the General insists that they 
shall immediately deliver up to him six hostages of his own 
nomination. 

"Fifthly: That such of the other inhabitants of Tryon 
County as have avowed themselves averse to the measures of 
the United Colonies, shall also deliver up their arms, of what 
kind soever they may be, and enter into the like engagement 
as is stipulated in the preceding article, both with respect to 
their future conduct and the number of hostages. 

" Sixthly : That all blankets, strouds, and other Indian arti- 
cles belonging to the Crown, and intended as presents to the 
Indians, shall be delivered up to a commissary appointed by 



1776.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH SIR JOHN. 135 

General Schuyler, in the presence of three or more of the Mo- 
hawk chiefs, in order that the same may be dispensed amongst 
the Indians, for the purpose of cementing the ancient friendship 
between them and their brethren of the United Colonies, for 
which sole purpose they ought to have been furnished. 

" Seventhly : If Sir John .Tohnson, and the people referred to 
in the aforegoing articles, shall justly abide by, and perform 
what is thereby required of them, the General, in behalf of the 
Continental Congress, doth promise and engage, that neither 
Sir John Johnson nor any of those people shall be molested by 
any of the other inhabitants of the said County, or by any of 
the inhabitants of the thirteen United Colonies ; but that, on the 
contrary, they will be protected in the quiet and peaceable en- 
joyment of their property ; — the sole intent of this treaty being 
to prevent the horrid effects of a civil and intestine war betwixt 
those who ought to be brethren. That all the arms which 
shall be delivered up in consequence of the preceding articles 
shall be valued by sworn appraisers. That if the Continental 
Congress should have occasion for them, they may be taken. 
If not, they will be delivered to the respective proprietors when 
this unhappy contest shall be at an end." 

In the course of the interview. Sir John assured General 
Schuyler that the Indians would support him, and that numbers 
of them were already at Johnson Hall for that purpose. He 
was assured, in return, that though averse to the shedding of 
blood, if the proffered terms were not acceded to, force would 
be opposed to force without distinction of persons, and that the 
consequences of resistance would be of the most serious descrip- 
tion. In conclusion. Sir John begged until the evening of the 
following day to consider of the propositions, which request 
was granted, and the Baronet took his leave. 

In about an hour after his departure, Abraham, and another 
of the Mohawks, made their appearance at General Schuyler's 
quarters. On being informed of what Sir John had said re- 
specting the Indians being in arms at the Hall for his defence, 
Abraham pronounced the story untrue, and repeated his assur- 
ances that the Mohawks would interfere in no other way than 
as mediators. The General replied that he hoped they would 
not, but he at the same time assured them with emphasis, that 
23 



136 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

if they slioiild do so. he should not hesitate a moment in de- 
stroying every one who opposed him in arms. 

On the following day, (the 18th,) General Schuyler moved 
forward to Canghnawaga, four miles from Johnstown, where he 
was joined by Colonel Herkimer and the Tryon County mili- 
tia. At about 6 o'clock in the afternoon Sir John's answer to 
the terms proposed to him was received, as follows : — 

" Terms proposed by Sir John Johnson, Baronet, and the 
people of Kingsborough and the adjacent neighborhood, to the 
Honorable Philip Schuyler, Esq. Major General in the army 
of the thirteen United Colonies, and commanding in the New- 
York Department. 

" First : That Sir John Johnson and the rest of the gentle- 
men expect that all such arms of every kind as are their own 
property may remain in their possession ; all the other arms 
shall be delivered up to such person or persons as may be ap- 
pointed for that purpose ; as to military stores belonging to the 
Crown, Sir John has not any. 

" Secondly : Answered in the first. 

" Thirdkj : Sir John expects that he will not be confined to 
any certain County, but be at liberty to go where he pleases, 

" Fourthly : The Scotch inhabitants will deliver up their 
arms of what kind soever they may be, and they will each 
solemnly promise that they will not at any time hereafter, during 
the continuance of this unhappy contest, take up arms without 
the permission of the Continental Congress or of their general 
officers. Hostages they are not in a capacity to give — no one man 
having command over another, or power sufficient to deliver 
such. Therefore this part of the article to be passed over, or the 
whole included — women and children to be required, being a re- 
quisition so inhuman as we hope the General will dispense with." 

" Fifthly : Answered in the fourth, 

" /Sixthly : Sir John has not any blankets, strouds, or other 
presents, intended for the Indians. 

" Seventhly : If the above proposals are agreed to and signed 
by the General, Sir John and the people referred to will rely on 
the assurances of protection given by the General. 

[Signed] " John Johnson, 

" Allan M'Donell." 
" To the Hon. Philip Schuyler, Major-generalP 



1776.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH SIR JOHN. 137 

This answer was in all respects unsatisfactory, as will appear 
by the annexed letter from General Schuyler in reply : — 

General Schuyler to Sir John Johnson, Baronet. 

" Caughnawaga, Jan. 18th, 8 o'clock, P. M., 1776. 
' Gentlemen, 
" Messrs. Adams and M'Donell have delivered me your an 
svver to my proposals of yesterday's date. The least attention 
to the articles I offered, when compared with yours, must con- 
vince you that you omitted replies to several of them, and con 
sequently that what you have sent me is very imperfect, and 
also unsatisfactory. I waive pointing out some of the inconsis- 
tencies in your proposals, as the whole are exceptionable except- 
ing the last. 

" I must therefore obey my orders, and again repeat, that, in 
the execution of them, I shall strictly abide by the laws of hu- 
manity ; at the same time assuring you, that if the least resist- 
ance is made, I will not answer for the consequences, which 
may be of a nature the most dreadful. 

" If Lady Johnson is at Johnson Hall, I wish she would re- 
tire, (and therefore enclose a passport,) as I shall march my 
troops to that place without delay. 

" You may, however, still have time to reconsider the 
matter, and for that purpose I give you until 12 o'clock this 
night — after which I shall receive no proposals ; and I have 
sent you Mr. Robert Yates, Mr. Glen, and Mr. Duer, to receive 
the ultimate proposals you have to make. This condescension 
I make from no other motive than to prevent the effusion of 
blood, so far as it can be effected without risking the safety of 
the County, or being guilty of a breach of the positive orders 
I have received from the Honorable Continental Congfress, 
" I am, Gentlemen, 
" With due respect, 

'Your humble Servant, 

" Ph. Schuyler." 
" To Sir John Johnson a7id Mr. Allan MDonell." 

Immediately after the preceding letter had been despatched 
to the Hall the sachems of the Lower Castle, with all their 
warriors and several from the Upper Castle, called upon Ge- 



138 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

neral Schuyler, having come to his quarters directly from the 
residence of the Baronet. They informed the General that 
Sir John had related to them the substance of the terms of 
surrender that had been proposed. Sir John, they said, had 
declared to them that all he desired was protection for his fami- 
ly and friends from insult and the outrages of riotous people, 
and protested that he had no unfriendly intentions against the 
country. The Indians therefore begged the General to accept 
the terms as offered by Sir John. The General told the chiefs 
that he could not accept of those terms, and pointed out the ob- 
jections. He likewise informed them of the tenor of the letter 
he had just transmitted to the Hall. The Indians were appa- 
rently contented with those reasons and with the course adopt- 
ed, but begged that, should the answer of Sir John be still un- 
satisfactory, the General would give him until 4 o'clock in the 
morning, that they might have time to go and " shake his 
head," as they expressed it, " and bring him to his senses." 
They likewise begged it as an additional favor, that General 
Schuyler would not remove Sir John out of the country. 
They apologized for the threats of their own warriors, alleg- 
ing that it was attributable to the circumstance of their not 
being present at the treaty of Albany ; and again repeated the 
assurance that they would never take arms against the Colo- 
nies. In reply. General Schuyler complimented the Indians for 
their pacific intentions, and informed them that he should ac- 
cede to their request, although the conduct of Sir John had 
been so censurable that he should be justified in holding him a 
close prisoner. His reasons for granting the request, the Gene- 
ral told them, were two-fold : — first, to show the love and 
aflfection of the Americans for the Indians, and to convince 
them that they could obtain, by asking as a favor, that which 
they could not obtain by demanding as a right. Secondly, that 
by leaving Sir John amongst them, they might, by their exam- 
ple and advice, induce him to alter his conduct. 

The extension of the time until 4 o'clock was unnecessary 
however, the following answer from Sir John having been re- 
ceived at 12 o'clock, at midnight : — 

" Answers to the terms proposed by the Honorable Philip 
Schuyler, Esq. Major-general in the army of the tliirteen 
United Colonies, and commanding in the New- York Depart- 



177G.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH SIR JOHN. 139 

ment, to Sir John Johnson, Baronet, the inhabitants of Kings- 
borough, and the neighborhood adjacent. 

" First and second articles agreed to, except a few favorite 
family arms. 

" Third : Sir John Johnson having given his parole of honor 
not to take up arms against America, and conceiving the design 
of this military operation to be with no other view than that of 
removing the jealousies of which his countrymen are unhap- 
pily and unjustly inspired with against him, can by no means 
think of submitting to this article in its full latitude, though, 
for the sake of preserving peace and removing any suspicions 
of undue inflaence, he consents not to go to the westward of the 
German Flatts and Kingsland Districts. To every other part 
of the continent to the southward of this County, he expects the 
privilege of going. 

" Fourthly : Agreed to, excepting that part of the article 
which respects the giving hostages. After the Scotch inhabit- 
ants have surrendered arms, the General may take any six 
prisoners from amongst them as he chooses, without resistance. 
They expect, however, that the prisoners so taken, will be 
maintained agreeable to their respective ranks, and that they 
may have the privilege of going to any part of the province of 
New Jersey or Pennsylvania, which the General, or the Conti- 
nental Congress may appoint. They likewise expect, from the 
General's humanity, that provision will be made for the main- 
tenance of the prisoner's wives and children, agreeable to their 
respective situations in life. Yet, for the sake of promoting the 
harmony of the country, they will not break off this treaty 
merely on that account, provided the General thinks he can- 
not exert a discretionary power in this matter ; in which case 
they rely upon the General's influence with the Continental 
Congress, which they cannot persuade themselves will be inat- 
tentive to the voice of humanity, or to the feelings of parents 
who may be torn from their families. Those to whose lot it 
may fall to be taken prisoners, it is expected will be allowed a 
few days to settle their business, and, if gentlemen, to wear their 
side arms. 

" Fifth : Neither Sir John Johnson nor the Scotch gentle- 
men, can make any engagement for any other persons than 
those over whom they may have influence. Neithpr can they 



140 LIFE OF BRANT. [1770. 

possibly know the names of all such persons who have shown 
themselves averse to the measures of the United Colonies. 
They give their word and honor, that, so far as depends on 
them, the inhabitants shall give up their arms, and enter into 
the like engagement with the Scotch inhabitants. The Gene- 
ral has it more in his power to discover those who are obnoxious, 
and to make as many as he pleases prisoners. Neither shall 
they adopt the quarrel of any such persons as their own. 

" Sixth : Sir John gives his word of honor that he has no 
blankets, strouds, or other presents, belonging to the Crown, 
intended for the Indians ; and therefore this requisition cannot 
be complied with. 

" Seventh : If the above proposals are agreed to, and signed 
by the General, Sir John and the people referred to will rely on 
the assurances of protection given by the General. But as it 
will be impossible for the arms to be collected till Saturday 
next at twelve o'clock, all the men referred to in the above 
articles will be then paraded in Johnstown, and ground their 
arms in the presence of such troops as the General may 
appoint." 

[Signed.] " John Johnson, 

" Allan M'Donell." 

" Johnson Hall, January ISth, 1776." 

The Indians were yet present at the quarters of General 
Schuyler when this despatch was received from Sir John, and, 
on being informed that matters were likely to terminate amica- 
bly, they retired with warm expressions of gratification. The 
following letter was thereupon despatched to the Hall : — 

General Schuyler to Sir John Johnson. 

" Caughnawaga, January 19, 1776. 

" General Schuyler's feelings as a gentleman induce him to 
consent that Sir John Johnson may retain the few favorite fa- 
mily arms — he making a list of them. 

" The General will also consent that Sir John Johnson may 
go as far to the westward as the German Flatts and Kingsland 
Districts in this County, and to every other part of this Colony 
to the Southward and Eastward of said Districts, provided he 
does not go into any seaport town. The General, however, 



1776.] THE TORIES DISARMED. 141 

believes, that if Sir John's private business should require his 
going to any of the other ancient English Colonies, he will be 
permitted the indulgence by applying to Congress for leave. 

" The General will take six of the Scotch inhabitants prison- 
ers, since they prefer it to going as hostages. It has been the 
invariable rule of Congress, and that of all its officers, to treat 
prisoners with the greatest humanity, and to pay all due defer- 
ence to rank. He cannot ascertain the places to which Con- 
gress may please to send them. For the present they will go 
to Reading or Lancaster in Pennsylvania. Nor can he make 
any promises with respect to the maintenance of the women 
and children. His humanity will certainly induce him to 
recommend to Congress an attention to what has been request- 
ed on that head. General Schuyler expects that all the Scotch 
inhabitants, of whatsoever rank, who are not confined to their 
beds by illness, will attend with their arms, and deliver them on 
Saturday at 12 o'clock. If this condition be not faithfully per- 
formed, he will consider himself as disengaged from any en- 
gagements entered into with them. 

" General Schuyler never refused a gentleman his side-arms. 

" The prisoners that may be taken must be removed to Al- 
bany immediately, where the General will permit them to re- 
main a reasonable time to settle their family affairs. 

" If the terms General Schuyler has offered on the 17th inst. 
are accepted with the above qualifications, fair copies will be 
made out and signed by the parties, one of which will be de- 
livered to Sn- John and Mr. M'Donell, signed by the General. 
To prevent a waste of time, the General wishes Sir John and 
Mr. M'Donell immediately to send an answer. 

" He remains, with due respect, 
" Sir John's and Mr. M'Donell's humble Servant, 

"Ph. Schuyler." 

These terms were acceded to by Sir John, and on the same 
day General Schuyler marched to Johnstown— having pre- 
viously detailed several detachments of his troops to scour the 
country, and bring in the disaffected not comprehended in the 
arrangements with the Baronet. On the same afternoon Sir 

John delivered up the arms and ammunition in his possession 

the quantity of both being much smaller than was expected. 



142 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

On Saturday, the 20th, General Schuyler paraded his troops at 
12 o'clock at noon, to receive the surrender of the Highlanders, 
who, to the number of between two and three hundred, 
marched to the front and grounded their arms. These having 
been secured, the Scotchmen were dismissed with an exhorta- 
tion to remain peaceable, and with an assurance of protection 
if they did so. 

The General's attention was next directed to the discovery 
and capture of the secret depot of arms and ammunition, of 
which information had been given by Connell. Two of the 
persons named in his affidavit were taken, but they denied, 
most unequivocally, all knowledge upon the subject. Connell 
was then produced to confront them ; but they still persisted in 
maintaining their innocence, and denounced him as a perjured 
villain. Connell was then sent with a number of officers to 
point out the spot, where, as he alleged, the arms were con- 
cealed. He conducted them to a pond of water, containing a 
small island, or mound, in the middle, within which he declared 
'the arms were buried. The snow and ice were forthwith re- 
moved, and the mound dug down. Connell had particularly 
described the manner in which the arms had been deposited 
under ground ; but it was soon discovered that the earth had 
not recently been disturbed, if ever ; and in the end it was 
ascertained, to the satisfaction of all, that the fellow was a base 
impostor. General Schuyler returned to Caughnawaga that 
evening. On the two following days upward of a hundred 
Tories were brought in from different parts of the country. 
Colonel Herkimer was left in charge to complete the disarming 
(^f the disaffected and receive the hostages, and the General, 
wiih his miscellaneous army, marched back to Albany. In his 
letters to Congress, and also to General Washington, he spoke 
of the anxiety and trouble he had experienced in preventing 
so large a body of men, collected on the sudden, without dis- 
cipline, and withal greatly exasperated, from running into ex- 
cesses. . In these efforts, however, he succeeded much better 
than, under the circumstances, was reasonably to have been 
anticipated. Before his return, Mr. Dean, the Indian interpre- 
ter, was despatched by the General with a belt and a talk to 
the Six Nations, which has not been preserved. Thus ended 
the expedition to Johnstown. 



1776.] FLIGHT OF SIR JOHN. 143 

General Schuyler transmitted a full report of his proceedings 
to Congress, by whom a special resolution was passed, thank- 
ing him for the fidelity, prudence, and expedition with which 
he had performed such a meritorious service. A second reso- 
lution was also adopted, so curiously constructed, and containing 
such an ingeniously-inserted hint to the officers and militia-men 
accompanying General Schuyler on this expedition, as to render 
it worthy of preservation. It was in the words following : — 

'•' Resolved, That the cheerfulness and ready assistance of 
those who accompanied General Schuyler in his march to the 
County of Tryon, and their useful services in that expedition, 
discovered such a patriotic spirit, that it is hoped none of them 
will allow their countrymen to entertain a suspicion that any 
ignoble motive actuated them, by requiring a pecuniary reward, 
especially when they were employed in suppressing a mischief 
in their own neighborhood." 

The resolutions were enclosed to General Schuyler in a flat- 
tering letter from President Hancock, in which, among other 
things, he says : — " It is with great pleasure I inform you that 
the prudence, zeal, and temper, manifested in your late expedi- 
tion, met with the warmest approbation of Congress." 

For some unexplained reason, Sir John Johnson did not ob- 
serve the compact of neutrality, nor the obligations of his pa- 
role. Or, if he kept himself within the letter, his conduct was 
such as to re-awaken the suspicions of the people, and was con- 
sidered by General Schuyler a virtual violation of the spirit of 
the parole he had given, to take no part against the Colonies. 
In fact, the information received by General Schuyler con- 
vinced him that Sir John was secretly instigating the Indians 
to hostilities, and was thus likely to produce much inischief on 
the frontiers. To prevent such a calamity, it was thought ad- 
visable by Schuyler to secure the person of Sir John, and once 
more to quell the rising spirit of disaffection in the neighbor- 
hood of Johnstown, especially among the Highlanders. For 
this purpose, in the month of May following the events already 
narrated in the present chapter. Colonel Dayton, with a part of 
his regiment then on its way to Canada, was dispatched by 
General Schuyler to prosecute this enterprise.* There were, 

♦ Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington Note in vol. iv. p. 409 — 410. 

23 



144 ■ LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

however, large numbers of loyalists in Albany, with whom 
Sir John was then and subsequently in close correspondence. 
It is therefore not surprising that he received timely notice 
of these preparations for his second arrest, in anticipation of 
Dayton's arrival. Such was the fact ; and, hastily collecting 
a large number of his tenants and others, disaffected toward the 
cause of the Colonists, the Baronet was prepared for instant 
flight on the approach of the Continentals. This purpose was 
successfully executed. Colonel Dayton arrived at Johnstown 
in the evening, whereupon Sir John and his retainers imme- 
diately took to the woods by the way of the Sacandaga.* Not 
knowing whether his royalist friends were in possession of 
Lake Champlain or not, the fugitives dared not venture upon 
that route to Montreal ; and Sir John was accordingly obliged 
to strike deeper into the forests between the head waters of the 
Hudson and the St. Lawrence. Having but a brief period of 
preparation for their flight, the party was but ill supplied for 
such a campaign. Their provisions were soon exhausted ; 
their feet became sore from travelling ; and several of their num- 
ber were left from time to time in the wilderness, to be picked 
up and brought in afterward by the Indians sent out for that 
purpose. 

After nineteen days of severe hardship, the Baronet and his 
partisans arrived at Montreal in a pitiable condition — having 
encountered all of suffering that it seemed possible for man to 
endure. Such was the precipitation of his departure from the 
parental hall, and such his deficiency of the means of transpor- 
tation, that an iron chest, containing the most valuable of his 
family papers, was hastily buried in the garden. The family 
Bible, containing the only record of the marriage of his father 
and mother, and of course the only written evidence of his own 
legitimacy, was also left behind.! Such of the papers as were 

* There is some reason to suppose that an expedition, led by the Mohawk In- 
dians, was sent from Montreal on purpose to bring Sir John away, or rescue him 
from the espionage of the Americans. In one of Brant's speeches, delivered long 
afterward, when rehearsing the exploits of the Mohawks in the Revolutionary war, 
the following passage occurs: — "We then went in a body to a town then in the 
"possession of the enemy, and rescued Sir John Johnson, bringing him fearlessly 
" through the streets." Brant, at the time of this rescue, as will presently be seen, 
was himself in England — as also was Guy Johnson. 

t After the confiscation of the property of Sir John, the furniture of the hall was 
sold by auction at Fort Hunter. The late Lieut. Governor of New-York, Jolin 



1776.] COMMISSIONED IN THE BRITISH ARMY. 145 

found, were examined by Colonel Dayton, in compliance witli 
his orders ; " and Lady Johnson was removed to Albany, where 
" she was retained as a kind of hostage for the peaceable con- 
" duct of her husband. She wrote to General Washington, 
" complaining of this detention, and asking his interference for 
" her release ; but the Commander-in-Chief left the matter with 
"General Schuyler and the Albany Committee."* Colonel 
Dayton was stationed several weeks at Johnstown with his 
troops, and for the time being secured the tranquillity of the 
country. 

Sir John was immediately commissioned a Colonel in the 
British service, and raised a command of two battalions, com- 
posed of those who accompanied him in his flight, and othei 
American loyalists who subsequently followed their example. 
They were called the Royal Greens. In the month of January 
following, he found his way into New- York, then in posses- 
sion of the British forces. From that period he became not 
only one of the most active, but one of the bitterest foes of his 
own countrymen of any who were engaged in that contest — 
and repeatedly the scourge of his own former neighbors. He 
was unquestionably a loyalist from principle, else he would 
scarcely have hazarded, as he did, and ultimately lost, domains 
larger and fairer than probably ever belonged to a single pro- 
prietor in America, William Penn only excepted. But the im- 
mediate cause of his breaking his pledge of honor is not known. 
Unexplained as it ever has been, the act has always been re- 
garded as a stain upon the Baronet's character. It was held as 
such by the Provincial Congress of New- York, as will be seen 
by the annexed extract from a letter addressed by that body to 
General Washington immediately after his flight : — " We ap- 
" prehend no doubt can exist whether the afltiir of Sir John 

Taylor, purchased several articles of the furniture ; and among other things, the 
Bible mentioned in the text. Perceiving that it contained the family record, which 
might be of great value to Sir John, Mr. Taylor wrote a civil note to Sir John, offer- 
ing its restoration. Some time afterward, a messenger from the Baronet called for 
the Bible, whose conduct was so rude as to give offence. "I have come for Sir 
William's Bible," said he, *' and there are the four guineas which it cost." The 
Bible was delivered, and the runner was asked what message Sir John had sent. 
The reply was — "Pay four guineas, and take the book !" — Letter of John Taylor 
Cooper {grandson of the Lt. Governor) to the author. 
* Sparks. 



,^# ^ 



146 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

" Johnson is within your immediate cognizance. He held a 
" commission as Brigadier-General of the militia, and, it is said, 
" another commission as Major-General. That he hath shame- 
" fully broken his parole is evident, but whether it would be 
" more proper to have him returned or exchanged, is entirely 
" in your Excellency's prudence." His estates were, of course, 
confiscated by the Provincial Congress of New- York, and in 
due time sold under the direction of the Committee of that body 
having such matters in charge. 



■ HmSbi- - 



CHAPTER VII. 



History of Brant resumed — Advanced to the chieftaincy of the Confederacy — Mode 
of appointing chiefs and sachems — Embariis for England — Arrives in London — 
Received with marked consideration — Becomes acquainted with James Boswell 
and others — Agrees to espouse the Royal cause, and returns to America — Steals 
through the country to Canada — Curious supposed letter to President Wheelock 
-Battle of the Cedars— Cowardice of Major Butterfield — Outrages of the In- 
dians — Story of Capt. M'Kinstry, who was saved from the stake by Brant — In- 
dignation of Washington, the people, and Congress — Resolutions of retaliation 
— Mutual complaints of treatment of prisoners — Murder of Gen. Gordon — In- 
dignation at the outrage — Indian deputation at Philadelphia — Speech to them — 
Congress resolves upon the employment of an Indian force — Schuyler opposed — 
Review of the incidents of the war elsewhere — Destitution of the Army — Eva- 
cuation of Boston by tiie English — Disastrous termination of the Canadian cam- 
paign — Deplorable condition of the army — Humanity of Sir Guy Carleton — 
— Glance at the South — Declaration of Independence — Spirit of Tryon County 
— Cherry Valley — Fortifications at Fort Stanwix — American army moves to 
New- York — Arrival of the British fleet and army— Battle of Long-Island — 
Washington evacuates New-York— Battle of White Plains — Retreats across 
New-Jersey— Followed by Cornwallis — Defeat of Arnold on Lake Champlain 
—Fall of Rhode Island— Battle of Trenton. 

The progress of events renders it necessary again to intro- 
duce the Indian hero of the war of the Revolution more promi- 
nently upon the stage of action. Thayendanegea had now been 
advanced to the situation of principal war-chief of the confede- 
racy * — an officer, according to the ancient usages of the Six 
Nations, uniformly taken from the Mohawks. t How, or in 
what manner. Brant arrived at that dignity, history does not 
inform us. Hendrick, the last of the Mohawk chiefs who 
bore the royal title of King, fell under Sir William Johnson 
at Lake George twenty years before. He was succeeded by 
Little Abraham, whose name has frequently occurred in the 
preceding pages, and who has been designated by some writers 
as the brother of Hendrick. But whether such was the fact 
or not, no farther mention of his name occurs in the history of 
the war. He was uniformly friendly to the Colonists ; and 

* I am aware that the dignity of "Principal Chief" has been denied to Captain 
Brant by several writers, and expressly by the Rev. Mr. Stewart, who says he was 
not a war-chief by birth, and not so often in command as has been supposed. It 
will be seen, however, toward the close of this work, from the speech of a Seneca 
chief, that Thayendanegea was the head chief of the confederacy— Mr. S. to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

t David Cusick's sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations. Cusick 
was himself an Indian of the Tuscarora tribe. 



148 LIFE OF BRANT. [177G. 

as he refused to leave the valley with Thayendanegea and the 
majority of the nation who accompanied Guy Johnson in his 
flight — preferring to remain with the tribe at the Lower Castle 
— it is not improbable that Brant assumed the superior chief 
taincy from the force of circumstances. Sir William Johnson 
informs us, that the sachems of each tribe of the Six Nations 
were usually chosen in a public assembly of the chiefs and 
warriors, whenever a vacancy happened by death or otherwise. 
They were selected from among the oldest warriors for their 
sense and bravery, and approved of by all the tribe — after 
which they were selected as sachems. Military services were 
the chief recommendations to this rank; but in some instances 
a kind of inheritance in the ofhce was recognized.* We have 
seen that Thayendanegea was descended from a family of 
chiefs, and his birth may have contributed to his elevation. 
His family and official connexion with the Johnsons, whose 
name continued so potent with the Indians, likewise, without 
doubt, facilitated his advancement. But Mr. Stewart, denying 
that the family of Thayendanegea was remarkable for any pre- 
eminence in their village, represents his influence to have been 
acquired by his uncommon talents and address as a counsellor 
and politician ; by which means he subdued all opposition and 
jealousy, and at length acquired such an ascendancy that, even 
in the hour of action and danger, he was enabled to rule and 
direct his warriors as absolutely as if he had been born their 
General. 

This inquiry, however, is of no great importance. The 
fact that he had now become the chief sachem is unquestion- 
able ; and from this point of the present history, Joseph Thay- 
endanegea becomes one of the principal personages engaged in 
its progress. He was ordinarily called by his other name of 
Joseph Brant, or ■' Captain Brant " — the title of " Captain " 
being the highest military distinction known to the Indians ; 
and that, moreover, being the military rank actually conferred 
upon him in the army of the Crown. In much of his correspond- 
ence, when wishing to be formal and writing to distinguished 
men, he was accustomed to write his name " Joseph Brant — • 
Thayendanegea ;" the latter being his legitimate Indian name. 

* Letters of Sir William Johnson to Arthur Lee— vide London Philosophical 
Transactions. 



1776.] HIS FIRST. VISIT TO ENGLAND. l/jQ 

It has been seen, in a preceding chapter, that Thayendanegea 
had accompanied Guy Johnson from the Mohawk Valley, 
first, westwardly to Ontario, thence back to Oswego, and thence 
to Montreal, where his services, and those of his warriors, were 
courted by Generals Carleton and Haldimand, and an agree- 
ment was speedily made that they were to take np the hatchet in 
the cause of the King. For the prosecution of a border war- 
fare, the officers of the Crown could scarcely have engaged a 
more valuable auxiliary. Distinguished alike for his address, 
his activity, and his courage— possessing, in point of stature 
and symmetry of person, the advantage of most men even 
among his own well-formed race— tall, erect, and majestic, 
with the air and mien of one born to command,*— having, as 
it were, been a man of war from his boyhood,t— his name was 
a tower of strength among the warriors of the wilderness. Still 
more extensive was his influence rendered, by the circumstance 
that he had been much employed in the civil service of the In- 
dian department, under Sir William Johnson, by whom he was 
often deputed upon embassies among the tribes of the confe- 
deracy, and to those yet more distant, upon the great lakes and 
rivers of the north-west, by reason of which his knowledge of 
the whole country and people was accurate and extensive. 

Whether, after the compact with Sir Guy Carleton, the chief 
again visited the Indian country of the Six Nations during the 
summer of 1775, is unknown. Probably not ; since, in the au- 
tumn of that year or early in the following winter, he embarked 
on his first visit to England. What was the precise object of this 
visit does not appear. It is very probable, however, that, not- 
withstanding the agreement so hastily formed at Montreal, the 
sagacious chieftain may have judged it prudent to pause, before 
committing himself too far by overt acts of hostility against 
the Colonies. The Oneidas were evidently inclining to es- 
pouse the Colonial side of the controversy, if any ; the River 
Indians had already ranged themselves on the same side; 
Captain White-Eyes of the Delawares, had determined upon 
neutrality ; and the Caughnawagas, or at least some of their 
leading chiefe, were in the camp with Washington. To all 

■ * Letter of General P. B. Porter to the author, 
t He was but thirteen years old when in the battle of Lake George. 



150 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

which may be added the fact, that at that time the American 
arms were carrying every thing before them in Canada. 
These circumstances were certainly enough to make the chief- 
tain hesitate as to the course dictated by true wisdom. His 
predilections, doubtless, from the first, inclined him to espouse 
the cause of the King. Nay, he maintained through life, that 
the ancient covenants of his people rendered it obligatory upon 
him so to do. In addition to which were the strong ties of 
blood, of association, and of gratitude, by which he was bound 
to the family and the interests of the Johnsons. Still, the bril- 
liant successes with which the Americans had opened the cam- 
paign in Canada presented another view of the case, which 
was certainly entitled to grave consideration. Thus situated, 
the chief may have found his position so embarrassing as to 
induce him to visit the parent country, and go himself into the 
presence of " The Great King," as the British monarch was 
styled by the Indians, before he should finally determine 
whether actually to take the field or not. By making the voy- 
age, he would have the additional advantage of studying the 
resources and the power of the parent country, and would 
thereby be the better able to determine for himself whether 
success was likely to crown his Majesty's arms in the end, or 
whether, by an over-scrupulous observance of an ancient sti- 
pulation of alliance, he should not, with his people, be rushing 
upon certain destruction. 

But whether he thus reasoned or not, it is certain that he 
sailed for England toward the close of the year 1775, and 
reached London early in 1776, accompanied by Captain Tice, 
an officer of English extraction, born in America, Avho had re- 
sided in the neighborhood of the Mohawk nation. 

Only a very brief account of this, his first visit to England, 
has been found.* It has always been said, however, that he 
was not only well received, but that his society was courted by 
gentlemen of rank and station — statesmen, scholars, and di- 
vines. He had little of the savage ferocity of his people in his 
countenance : and when, as he ordinarily did, he wore the 
European dress, there was nothing besides his color to mark 
wherein he differed from other men. Upon his first arrival in 

* London Magazine for July, 1776. 



1776.] HIS FIRST VISIT TO ENGLAND. 151 

the British Cc?pital, he was conducted to the inn called " The 
Swan with two Necks." Other lodgings were soon provided for 
him, more suitable to his rank as an Indian king ; but he said 
the people of the inn had treated him with so much kindness 
and civility, that he preferred remaining there during his stay- 
in London ; and he accordingly did so. 

Although he was dressed in the European habit, he was not 
unprovided with a splendid costume after the manner of his 
own nation, in which he appeared at Court, and upon visits of 
state and ceremony. James Boswell was at that period in his 
glory, and an intimacy appears to have been contracted between 
him and the Mohawk chief, since the latter sat for his picture 
at the request of this most interesting of egotists. He also sat, 
during the same visit, to Romney, one of the most distinguished 
artists of his day, for the Earl of Warwick, He was, of 
course, painted in his native dress, and the picture was greatly 
prized.* The tomahawk worn by him in London, was a very 
beautiful article, polished to the highest degree ; upon which 
was engraved the first letter of his Christian name, with his 
Mohawk appellation, thus : — " /. Thayendanegea." 

He did not remain in England many montlis, but, in com- 
pany with Captain Tice, sailed on his return toward the close 
of March or early in April,t and arrived on the coast near the 
harbor of New- York after a very short passage. Having fully 
determined to fulfil his stipulations with General Carleton, and 
take up the hatchet in the cause of the Crown, he was cau- 
tiously and privately landed somewhere in the neighborhood of 
New- York, whence he performed a very hazardous journey to 
Canada — having, of course, to steal his way through a hostile 
population, until he could hide himself in the forests beyond 
Albany. He had taken the precaution, however, in England, 
to provide evidence of the identity of his body in case of dis- 
aster, or of his fall in any of the battles he anticipated, by pro- 
curing a gold finger ring, with his name engraven thereon at 
length, t 

* The frontispiece of the present volume is from the last-mentioned picture. 

t The London Universal Magazine for July of 1776, states that he embarked for 
America in May. But there must have been a mistake in the date, since Brant, as 
will soon appear, was in the battle of the Cedars, above Montreal, in that month. 

J This ring he wore until his death. It was kept as a precious relic by his widow 



152 LIFE OF BRAKT. [1776. 

What were the particular arguments addressed to the Mo- 
hawk in the British capital, or by what process he became im- 
pressed with the idea that the arms of the King would, in the 
end, be victorious in the Colonies, is not known. It is certain, 
however, that whatever doubts he might have entertained, were 
most etFectually dispelled ; since, on taking leave, it was under- 
stood that lie pledged himself heartily to embrace the Royal 
cause, and promised to take the field with three thousand v/ar- 
riors of his race.* 

It is no more than justice, however, to allow Captain Brant 
to speak for himself, in regard to the principle by which he was 
governed in his decision. In a letter written by him to Sir 
Evan Nepean. the Under Secretary of State, when in England 
after the peace of 1783, he said : — " When I joined the English 
*' in the beginning of the war, it was purely on account of my 
*' forefathers' engagements with the King. I always looked 
*' upon these engagements, or covenants between the King and 
" the Indian nations, as a sacred thing : therefore I was not to 
'' be frightened by the threats of the rebels at that time ; I as- 
" sure you I had no other view in it, and this was my real case 
" from the beginning." 

By " threats " in this letter to the Under Secretary, Brant 
probably meant no more than the efforts made by the Ameri- 
cans to prevent his joining the Royal standard, and to preserve 
the neutrality of the Indians. In connexion with these eiForts, 
there is a scrap of unwritten history, which, whether true or 
not, is characteristic of the shrewdness and dry sarcastic humor 

for four years, .when it was lost. Strange as it may seem, however, during the last 
Summer, (1836,) the identical ring was found by a little girl in a ploughed field 
near Wellington Square, while the venerable Indian queen was on a visit to hei 
daughter, the accomplished lady of Colonel Kerr. The aged widow of the old 
chief was overjoyed at once more possessing the memento, after it had been lost six 
and twenty years. 

* It appears that Colonel Guy Johnson must have visited England at the same 
time, or nearly the same time, with Brant. Perhaps they went together, although 
Johnson did not return so soon. General Washington announced his arrival at 
Staten Island, from England, on the 6th of August, 1776, in a letter written to the Pre- 
sident of Congress on the Sth. In Dunlap's History of the American Stage, Guy 
Johnson's name is given, in 1778, as one of the managers of the old Theatre Royal, 
John-street. The players were all amateurs, officers of the British army ; and the 
avails of their performances were appropriated for benevolent purposes. The un- 
fortunate Major Andre was one of the actors and the scene painter. A drop-cur- 
tain, painted by him, was used many years after his death. 



1776.] BATTLE OF THE CEDARS. 153 

of the chief. It is related, that during the early part of the year 
1775, while it was yet considered doubtful which side the Mo- 
hawks would espouse, and when it was of course very desira- 
ble to ascertain the views of Brant upon the subject, President 
Wheelock was applied to as a medium of communication with 
his former pupil. The Doctor, according to the tradition, wrote 
him a long epistle upon the aspect of the times, and urged 
upon Brant those considerations which appeared most likely to 
win him over, or rather to secure his neutrality, if not his 
friendship, to the Colonists. Brant replied very ingeniously. 
Among other things, he referred to his former residence with 
the Doctor — recalled the happy hours he had passed under his 
roof — and referred especially to his prayers and the family 
devotions, to which he had listened. He said he could never 
forget those prayers ; and one passage, in particular, was so 
often repeated, that it could never be effaced fi:om his mind. It 
was, among other of his good preceptor's petitions, " that they 
" might be able to live as good subjects — to fear God, and ho- 
" NOR THE King." 

If doubt had existed among the Colonists before, as to the di- 
rection of the channel in which ran his inclinations, there was 
surely none after the perusal of this letter. But scenes of a 
more stirring character now demand the attention. 

Toward the close of the memorable Canadian campaign, — 
so brilliantly commenced, so successfully prosecuted for many 
months, and yet so disastrously terminated, — while the shatter- 
ed remains of the American forces were retiring before the 
troops of Sir Guy Carleton, the former experienced a sad dis- 
aster at " the Cedars," a point of land extending far into the St. 
Lawrence, about forty miles above Montreal, which was occu- 
pied by Colonel Bedell with three hundred and ninety Provin- 
cial troops and two field-pieces. General Carleton directed a 
descent upon this post from the British station at Oswegatchie, 
under the command of Captain Forster, at the head of one 
company of regular troops and a body of Indians numbering 
nearly six hundred. The latter were led by Thayendanegea. 
On the appearance of the enemy before the American works, 
Colonel Bedell repaired immediately to Montreal for assistance, 
leaving the Cedars in charge of Major Butterfield. Colonel 
(afterward General) Arnold, who was then in command of 



154 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

Montreal — not yet evacuated by the Americans — forthwith de- 
tached Major Sherburne with one hundred men, to proceed to 
the Cedars, and prepared to follow himself with a much larger 
force. Meantime, however. Major Butterfield, who, it was be- 
lieved, might have easily defended the position, was intimidated 
by a threat from the enemy, that, should the siege continue and 
any of the Indians be slain, in the event of an eventual sur- 
render it would be impossible for the British commander to 
prevent a general massacre, and consented to a capitulation, by 
which the whole garrison became prisoners of war. Major 
Sherburne approached on the day following, without liaving 
received any information of the change of circumstances un- 
til within four miles of the post, where, on the 20th of May, 
he was attacked by the Indians, and after a sharp conflict com- 
pelled to surrender at discretion. No sooner had Arnold re- 
ceived information of these events, than he marched against 
the foe, then at Vaudreuil, at the head of seven huncb-ed men, 
with a view of chastising the enemy and recovering the prison- 
ers. " When preparing for an engagement, he received a flag 
" accompanied by Major Sherburne, giving him the most posi- 
" tive assurances that if he persisted in his design, it would be 
" entirely out of the power of Captain Forster to prevent his 
" savages from pursuing their horrid customs, and disencum- 
" bering themselves of their prisoners by putting every man to 
" death. This massacre was already threatened, and Major 
" Sherburne confirmed the information. Under the influence 
"of this threat, Arnold desisted from his purpose, and con- 
" sented to a cartel, by which the prisoners were delivered up 
" to him ; he agreeing, among other things, not only to deliver 
" as many British . soldiers in exchange for them, but also that 
<' they should immediately return to their homes."* 

This disaster, or, perhaps, more correctly speaking, the con- 
duct of the officers to whose cowardice it was imputed, was a 
source of deep mortification to General Washington, and he 
gave utterance to his vexation in several letters written soon 
afterward. Nor was Butterfield alone blamed — Colonel Bedell 
being placed in the same category of condemnation.! The 

* Marshall's Life of Washington. 

t " If the accounts of Colonel Bedell's and Major Butterfield's conduct be true, they 
have certainly acted a part deserving tlie most exemplary notice. I hope you will 



1776.] CASE OP COL. m'kinstry. 155 

Commander-in-Chief was likewise incensed at the conduct of 
Captain Forster, in resorting to deceptive and very unjustifia- 
ble means, to procure hostages for ratifying a treaty of exchange. 
The name of Captain Brant is not mentioned in any of the 
books, in connexion with these transactions at the Cedars. 
There is positive evidence, however, that he was not only 
there, but that he exerted himself efficiently after the surrender 
of Major Sherburne, to control the Indians and prevent the 
massacre of the prisoners. Among these latter, was Captain John 
M'Kinstry,* who commanded a company on that occasion. 
From his account of the battle, Major Sherburne fell into an 
ambuscade, and the fighting was severe. Captain M'Kinstry's 
command was engaged sliarply with a body of Indians, before 
wliom his troops were several times compelled to retire. Ral • 
lying, however, with spirit, the Indians were repeatedly driven 
back in turn; and the respective parties were thus successively 
driven by each other, back and forth, according to the doubt- 
ful and varying fortunes of the hour, until the Americans were 
overpowered by numbers, and compelled to surrender ; Captain 
M'Kinstry, being wounded, fell by the side of a tree, and was 
there taken. He subsequently ascertained that he had been 
marked as a victim by the Indians, who had actually made the 
usual preparations for putting him to death by the torture of 
fire ; and that he was rescued by the personal exertions of Cap- 
tain Brant, who, in connexion with some humane English offi- 
cers, made up a purse, and purchased an ox, which the Indians 
roasted for their carousal instead of the gallant prisoner. Cap- 
tain M'Kinstry was treated with kindness while a prisoner, and 
contracted an intimacy with Brant which continued until the 
chieftain's death. Brant never visited the Hudson, after the 
Revolution, without spending a few days with Colonel M'Kin- 
stry at the Manor ;t and at the time of his last visit, about the 
year 1805, in company with his friend, who, like himself, was 
a member of the brotherhood, he attended the Freemason's 

take proper measures, and have good courts appointed to bring them, and every 
other officer, that has been, or shall be, guilty of misconduct, to trial ; that they may 
be punished according to their offences. Our misfortunes at the Cedars were occa- 
sioned, as it is said, entirely by their base and cowardly behavior, and cannot be as- 
cribed to any other cause." — Letter of Washington to General Schuyler, June 10, 1776. 

* Late Colonel M'Kinstry, of Livingston's Manor. 

t Letter to the aullior, from George M'Kinstry, Esq. of Claverack. 



156 ■ LIFE OF BRANT. [1776, 

Lodge in the city of Hudson, where his presence attracted great 
attention. 

But to return. The conduct of Major Butterfield at the Ce- 
dars was hive wise severely denounced in Congress, and his 
capitulation pronounced by resolution " a shameful surrender." 
Due credit was at the same time awarded to Major Sherburne, 
tor the bravery displayed by himself and his troops, who only 
" surrendered at last on absolute necessity." Notwithstanding, 
moreover, the interposition of Captain Brant to prevent a mas- 
sacre, and the rescue of Captain M'Kinstry, such outrages were 
reported to Congress as to call forth a series of indignant reso- 
lutions upon the subject. In the preamble to these resolutions, 
it was stated that, immediately after the surrender, the prisoners 
were delivered over to the Indians ; tlieir baggage plundered, 
their clothes taken from them, and several of their number 
killed ; and one of them, who had only been wounded, roasted 
alive. From the circumstance that Captain M'Kinstry had 
been wounded, and designated for the torture, though rescued, 
as we have already seen, by Captain Brant, it is quite probable 
that Congress was misinformed as to the actual consummation 
of such a purpose in the person of any prisoner. Assuming 
the fact, however, the enemy's conduct was denounced in the 
strongest terms — Congress asserting the right of demanding 
indemnification for the wrongs inflicted upon the prisoners in 
their persons and property ; and in regard to the murder of 
prisoners by the Indians, requiring: that the authors of those 
murders be delivered into their hands for condign punishment, 
as a condition precedent to an exchange of prisoners. In re- 
gard to the torturing of prisoners, a resolution was also adopted, 
denouncing, " as the sole means of stopping the progress of 
human butchery," a retaliation of punishment, of the same kind 
and degree, to be inflicted upon a like number of prisoners of 
the enemy, in every case of outrage thereafter to occur. 

These resolutions were, in effect, a refusal to confirm the 
treaty for the exchange of prisoners entered into by General 
Arnold, and were so considered by the commanding officers in 
Canada. The consequence was, the indulgence of much crimi- 
nation and recrimination, on the part both of the American 
and British commanders. Indeed, complaints of the cruel 
treatment of the prisoners falling into their hands had been 



1776.] CRUELTY TO PRISONERS. 157 

preferred against the enemy several months before, particularly 
in the case of Colonel Ethan Allen and his fellow-captives. 
Allen had been captured by General Prescott, by whom, in ad- 
dition to other indignities, he had been heavily ironed, and sent 
like a common felon to England, Prescott was afterward 
taken by the Americans and treated with considerable rigor, 
in retaliation for the ill-usage of Allen. This produced a re- 
monstrance from General Howe, who, on being reminded of 
the case of Allen, disclaimed any responsibility in regard to 
that transaction, inasmuch as it was an occurrence in a district 
beyond the boundaries of his particular command. The af- 
fair of the Cedars excited the strongest feelings of indignation, 
not only in Congress and among the people, but in the army. 
'• The mhuman treatment of the whole, and murder of part, of 
" our people, was certainly a flagrant violation of that faith, 
"which ought to beheld sacred by all civilized nations, and 
"was founded in the most savage barbarity."* Soon after- 
ward the account was in part balanced, by a diabolical outrage 
committed by an American scouting party in the neighbor- 
hood of St. John's. It was the deliberate assassination, by the 
lieutenant at the head of the party, of Brigadier-General Gor- 
don of the British army. General Gordon was riding alone, 
and in full uniform, from Laprairie to St. John's. The lieu- 
tenant and his party were in ambush within the British lines, 
and as the General passed, the former wantonly and barbarously 
shot him through the body. Although the wound was mortal, 
the General rode on, and speedily reached St. John's, where he 
expired.t This painful incident aroused as warm a burst of 
indignation among the British officers, as the affair of the Ce- 
dars had done among the Americans. General Carleton 
availed himself of the occurrence to issue a violent, though art- 
ful proclamation, which was pronounced by Washington, in a 
letter to the President of Congress, to be " highly unbecoming 
"the character of a soldier and gentleman." Although the 
prisoners were not exchanged, under the arrangement made 
with Arnold, yet Carleton set the American captives at liberty, 
on condition of their returning to their own homes, there to re- 
main as prisoners. Each of the prisoners was furnished with 
a copy of his insidious proclamation. 

* Letter of V/ashington to the President of Congress, Jiify 15, 1776. 
t Note in vol. iv. of Sparks's Life and Correspondence of Washinston. 



158 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

It was not supposed that any considerable numbers of the 
Indians of the Six Nations participated in the battle of the 
Cedars, other than the Mohawks and their kindred tribe, the 
Caughnawagas, or the Seven Nations of Canada, as they chose 
to call themselves. Indeed, the Six Nations were at that stage 
of the contest far from being unanimous in opposition to 
the Colonies ; and at the very time of these occurrences, a de- 
putation from four of the nations was at Philadelphia, on a 
peaceable mission to Congress. The arrival of this deputation 
was announced to that assembly on the 24th of May. On the 
llth of June they were presented to the House, preparatory to 
their departure, and addressed by the President as follows : — 

" Brothers : We hope the friendship that is between you 
and us will be firm, and continue as long as the sun shall 
shine and the waters run, that we and you may be as one people, 
and have but one heart, and be kind to one another as brethren. 

" Brothers : The King of Great Britain, hearkening to the 
evil counsel of some of his foolish young men, is angry with 
us, because we will not let him take away from us our land, 
and all that we have, and give it to them ; and because we will 
not do every thing that he bids us ; and hath hindered his peo- 
ple from bringing goods to us, but we have made provision for 
gettnig such a quantity of them, that we hope we shall be able 
to supply your wants as formerly. 

" Brothers : We shall order all our warriors and young 
men not to hurt you or any of your kindred ; and we hope you 
will not suffer any of your young men to join with our enemies, 
or to do any wrong to us, that nothing may happen to make 
any quarrel between us. 

" Brothers : We desire you to accept a few necessaries, 
which we present you with, as tokens of our good- will toward 
you." 

The presents having been delivered, the Indian deputies 
expressed a desire to give a name to the President of Congres^'. 
Permission for that purpose having been granted, a chief of th« 
Onondagas arose, and saluted the President by the name of 
Ka-ran-dua-an, or the Great Tree ; by which name John Han- 
cock was afterward known among the Six Nations. 

Although it would appear upon the surface of these resolu- 
tions, that Congress was yet persevering in the humane poHcy 
of keeping the Indians in a state of neutrality, yet candor and 



1776.] EMPLOYMENT OF INDIANS. 169 

truth require a different record. Much as sound moralists had 
condemned the employment of this species of force in civihzed 
warfare, and strongly as Congress had exerted its influence the 
preceding year to prevent the Indians from taking the field in 
behalf of either of the combatants, that policy was abandoned. 
On the 25th of May, 1776, the Congress resolved " that it was 
" highly expedient to engage the Indians in the service of the 
" United Colonies ;" and they empowered the Commander-in- 
Chief to employ, in Canada and elsewhere, a number not ex- 
ceeding two thousand, offering them " a reward of one hun- 
" dred dollars for every commissioned officer, and thirty dollars 
" for every private soldier of the King's troops, that they should 
" take prisoner in the Indian country, or on the frontiers of 
" these Colonies." The Congress also authorized General 
Washington to employ the Indians of Penobscot, St. John's, 
and Nova Scotia, who had proffered their services, and were 
to receive the same pay as the Continental soldiers.* 

'Whether any of those Eastern Indians were ever actually 
engaged in the American service, is not known. In regard to 
the employment of the Northern Indians, Washington forth- 
with entered into a correspondence with General Schuyler up- 
on the subject, and pressed him to carry the resolutions into ef- 
fect. The latter, however, was averse to the measure — as 
much so as at the first. He disliked to employ such a force 
under any circumstances, contending that they were too fickle 
and uncertain to allow any well-founded reliance to be placed 
upon them at the moment of emergency. At that particular 
conjuncture, especially when our troops, broken and dispersed, 
were flying like fugitives from Canada, he thought the chances 
of obtaining Indian auxiliaries exceedingly slender ; and as to 
the number prescribed, (two thousand,) the General intimated 
m one of his letters to the Commander-in-Chief, that it would 
have been well if Congress had condescended to inform him 
where so many Indian warriors, not already in the service 

* Sparks's Life and Cor. of Washington, vol. iv., Appendix. [Mr. Sparks seems 
to have fallen into an error as to the immediate motive of Congress in changing its 
Indian policy at this time. He leaves his readers to infer, that the measure was 
one of retaliation for the conduct of the British and Indians at the Cedars. But such 
could not have been the fact. The battle of the Cedars was fought on the 20th of 
May, and these resolutions were passed on the 25th — before the news, in those days, 
could possibly have reached Pliiladelphia.] 

25 



160 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776, 

of the enemy, were to be found. In short, General Schuyler's 
opinion was correct from the beginning, that the Colonies could 
expect no essential aid fiom the Indians ; and whatever aid 
they might receive, would be sure to cost more than it would 
come to. So the event proved. But, although the British 
profited most by the employment of the Indians, they are not 
alone to blame for using them. So far, certainly, as principle 
and intention are concerned, the Americans are equitably enti- 
tled to a due share of the censure,* 

In recurring to coincident events transpiring in other parts of 
the country, it must be remarked, that the Commander-in- 
Chief was often placed in circumstances not the most promis- 
ing. On his first arrival at the camp before Boston, the pre- 
ceding year, he had found only " the materials for a good 
" army " — not the organized army itself The troops were 
mostly undisciplined ; and having taken arms to fight for h- 
berty, it was no easy matter to bring them into those habits of 
subordination, which necessarily render a soldier a mere ma- 
chine to be moved at the will of his commander. The first 
object of General Washington, therefore, was to bring the 
troops into a state of discipline. But another difficulty pre- 
sented itself in the fact, that, owing to the short periods of en- 
listment, the times of service of the greater portion of the 
army were to expire in November and December. To which 
was added the embarrassing discovery, that all the powder at 
his command was barely sufficient to supply nine rounds of 
cartridges per man. There was, moreover, a general want of 
camp equipage and clothing, and indeed of every thing neces- 
sary alike to the comfort and the efficiency of an army. But 
Heaven, in its mercy, seemed to have devolved the command 
upon the man of all others best calculated to meet the emer- 
gency and overcome it. His destitution of ammunition was 
artfully and effectually concealed from the enemy ; and al- 
though, on the discharge of those of his troops who would not 
re-enlist, at the close of December, (1775,) he had no more 
than 9650 men left, he yet contrived to sustain himself and 
keep the enemy beleaguered in Boston during the whole winter. 
" It is not in the pages of history, perhaps," he wrote to 

♦ Sparks. 



1776.] GENERAL PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 161 

Congress, " to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a post 
" within musket shot of the enemy for six months together, 
" without amiminition., and at the same time to disband one 
" army and recruit another, within that distance of twenty odd 
" British regiments, is more, probably, than was ever at- 
" tempted."* 

The Continental Congress had been induced by the influence 
of the Commander-in-chief to resolve upon the raising of an 
army of 75,000 men, to be enlisted for the term of three years, or 
during the war. It was not until January, however, that they 
could be induced to offer bounties for enlistments ; and even 
then the ranks were not rapidly filled. At the close of February, 
the whole effective force of the Americans was no more than 
14,000 men, exclusive of 6000 of the Massachusetts militia. 
An assault upon Boston had been meditated in February by 
General Washington ; but the opinion of his principal officers, 
as expressed in a council of war, being strongly against such 
a movement, the enterprize was reluctantly abandoned. Wearied 
by inaction, the next project of the American commander was 
to take possession of Dorchester Heights — a position command- 
ing the town of Boston, the occupation of which would compel 
General Howe either to attempt its dispossession by the Ameri- 
cans, or to evacuate the town. The enterprize was so well 
planned, as to be executed by General Thomas with complete 
and brilliant success, on the night of the 4th of March. 
Having diverted the attention of the enemy by a bombardment 
of his lines in another direction, the movement was unper- 
ceived. The weather being mild, the American troops were 
enabled to labor with energy in throwing up defences, which, 
on the following morning, struck the General of the British 
army with astonishment, from their sudden appearance and 
their magnitude. , A heavy atmosphere contributed to magnify 
the height of the works, and increase the wonder of the foe. 
Sir William Howe made immediate preparations to drive the 
• Americans from their new, and, to him. dangerous position ; 
for which purpose two thousand choice troops were embarked 
to cross over the same evening ; but a severe tempest frustrated 
his design. On the following morning General Howe con- 

♦ Holmes's A iuial3. 



162 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

vened a council of war, at which it was resolved to evacuate 
the town as soon as possible. This determination was carried 
into execution on the 17th, by the embarkation of the whole 
British army, and the saihng of the fleet — first to Halifax — but 
ultimately, as the event proved, for New- York. On the same 
day General Washington entered Boston in triumph, and was 
hailed by the universal acclaim of the people as their deliverer. 
Thus was the town which first raised the standard of rebellion, 
the first to rejoice at the final retreat of its oppressors. Nor was 
it the fortune of the invaders ever to set foot there again. 

In the North, the operations of the Provincial army had been 
far less propitious. The conquest of Canada was a favorite 
project with Congress, and every possible effort within the 
slender means of the Colonies was made to that end. But the 
fall of Montgomery had thrown a gloom over the enterprise 
which was never dissipated. Colonel, now General Arnold, 
had maintained himself before Quebec during the winter, and 
until late in the spring, with but a handful of men — number- 
ing, at one time, not more than five hundred effectives. But 
the reinforcements were slow in arriving ; the Canadians, from 
a variety of causes — the principal of which, beyond doubt, 
was bad treatment from an undisciplined soldiery — became 
less friendly to the Americans than at first, notwithstanding the 
mission of Messrs. Franklin, Chase, and Carroll, accompanied 
by a Catholic priest, to conciliate them ; and on the arrival of 
General Wooster at his quarters, about the 1st of April, Arnold 
obtained leave of absence, and took the command at Montreal. 
General Thomas, who had been assigned to the command of 
the army in Canada, after the exploit of Gloucester Heights, 
arrived before Quebec on the 1st of May, where he found an 
army of nineteen hundred men, less than one thousand of 
whom were effective, and three hundred of these, being entitled 
to their discharge, refused to perform duty. They had but one 
hundred and fifty barrels of powder, and six days' provisions. 
Well knowing that with the opening of the navigation. Sir 
Guy Carleton's expected reinforcements would arrive, the cir- 
cumstances in which he was placed were altogether so un- 
promising, that General Thomas, with the concurrence of a 
council of war, determined to raise the siege on the 5th of 
May, and assume a more eligible position farther up the river-. 



1776.] EVACUATION OF CANADA. 163 

It was the intention of the American commander to remove 
the sick to Three Rivers ; but on the 6th, before the arrange- 
ments for retreating were all concerted, a British fleet, with 
reinforcements, arrived. General Carleton immediately made 
a sortie at the head of one thousand men ; to oppose whom. 
General Thomas had not more than three hundred available 
troops. No other course remained, therefore, but a preci- 
pitate retreat for all who could get away — leaving the sick 
and the mihtary stores to the enemy. General Thomas led his 
little band back to the mouth of the Sorel, where he was 
seized with the small-pox, and died. Large reinforcements 
joined the fugitive army at that place, under General Sullivan. 
Before General Carleton moved from Q,uebec, an expedition 
was undertaken from Sorel to the Three Rivers, against Gene- 
ral Frasier, under the direction of General Thompson and 
Colonel St. Clair. It was unsuccessful ; from which time dis- 
aster followed disaster, until, owing to the combined causes of 
defeat, sickness, and insubordination, the Americans found 
themselves, on the 18th of June, driven entirely out of Canada ; 
the British army following so closely upon their heels, as im- 
mediately to occupy the different posts as they were successive- 
ly evacuated. 

The Americans, however, still retained the control of Lake 
Champlain, and occupied the fortifications upon its shores, 
the command of which had now been assigned by Congress 
to General Gates, with great and manifest injustice toward Ge- 
neral Schuyler,* Gates at first established his head-quarters at 
Crown Point, but soon afterward withdrew his forces from that 
post, and fell back upon Ticonderoga. This step was taken 

* The appointment of Gates to the command of this department, was from the 
first unacceptable to the officers of New-York, nor was his own course very concili- 
atory toward them. In the course of the present Summer, it was reported to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Gansevoort, a brave and deservedly popular officer, belonging to the 
regiment of Colonel Van Schaick, and then in command of Fort George at the head 
of the lake of that name, that the General had spoken disrespectfully of that regi- 
ment, and also of the regiments of Colonels Wynkoop and Fisher. His letters to 
Col. Gansevoort were unnecessarily harsh and pragmatical s*. much so as justly to 
give offence. Irritated by such treatment, Gansevoort wrote a spirited letter to 
Gates, referring to several matters in which he had been aggrieved by the letters and 
conversation of that officer. He requested a Court of Inquiry, and avowed his de- 
termination, with the leave of Gen. Schuyler, to relinquish the command of the 
post. — Ma. letters of Gates and Col. Gansevoort in the author's possession. 



164 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

by the advice and concurrence of a board of general officers, 
but contrary to the wishes of the field officers. The Comman- 
der-in-chief was exceedino;ly dissatisfied with this movement of 
Gates, beheving that the rehnquishment of that post, in its conse- 
quences, would be equivalent to an abandonment of Lakes 
George and Champlain, and all the advantages to be derived 
therefrom.* In reply to the concern that had been expressed 
by Wnshmgton on the occasion. General Gates contended that 
Crown Point was untenable with the forces then under his 
command, nor could it be successfully defended even with the 
aid of the expected reinforcements. These reinforcements, 
moreover, the General added, could not be allowed to approach 
nearer to Crown Point than Skenesborough, since " it would 
" be only heaping one hospital upon another."t The annals 
of disastrous war scarce present a more deplorable picture than 
that exhibited by the Americans escaping from Canada. In 
addition to the small pox, the army had been afflicted by other 
diseases, generated by exposure, destitution, and laxity of dis- 
cipline. Fleets of boats came up the lake, freighted with the 
sick and dying ; and even those reported from day to day fit 
for duty, presented but the appearance of a haggard skele- 
ton of an array. " Every thing about this army," said Gene- 
ral Gates in the letter already cited, " is infected with the pes- 
" tilence ; the clothes, the blankets, the air, and the ground 
" they walk upon. To put this evil from us, a general hospi- 
" tal is established at Fort George,t where there are now be- 
" tween two and three thousand sick, and where every infected 
'•' person is immediately sent. But this care and caution have 
" not efiectually destroyed the disease here ; it is, notwithstand- 
" ing, continually breaking out.'Ml 

Such was the deplorable condition in which an army, so re- 

♦ Letter of Washington to Gen. Gates, July 19, 1776. 

t Letter of Gen. Gates to Washington in reply, July 2S. The small pox, which 
had been so fatal to the troops in Canada, had now broken out at Crown Point and 
Ticonderoga — the pestilence having been purposely introduced by a villain calling 
himself Doctor Barker. This fact is stated in a letter from the Adjutant-General of 
the Northern Department to Colonel Gansevoort, dated from Ticonderoga, July 24. 
"The villain," says the letter, "by private inoculations in the army, has caused, in 
a great degree, the misery to which we are reduced by that infectious disorder." 
Barker was arrested, and sent to Albany. — JUS. letter of Colonel Trumbull to Col. 
Gansevoort. 

i At the head of Lake George. II Sparks. 



1776.] GENERAL PROGRESS OP THE WAR. 165 

cently victorious, had been driven back from what was in fact 
a conquered country, lost entirely through mismanagement, 
and the want of an army upon the basis of permanent enlist- 
ment. Added to which, was another difficulty lying beneath 
the surface. Many prisoners had follen into the hands of the 
enemy at Quebec and during the subsequent retreat. Toward 
all these, the conduct of Sir Guy Carleton had been most poli- 
tic. They had been treated with the greatest care and human- 
ity, and so much of the subde poison of flattery, mingled with 
kindness, had been poured into their ears, that their return on 
parole, which was presently allowed by the British commander, 
was regarded with apprehension.* On one occasion, a large 
number of prisoners arriving at Crown Point from St. .Tohn's, in 
a vessel provided by Sir Guy Carleton, were visited, before land- 
ing, by Colonel John Trumbull, the Adjutant-General for the 
Northern Department. From the feelings they manifested, and 
the tenor of their conversation, Colonel Trumbull saw at once 
that it would not be prudent to allow them to land, or hold the 
least intercourse with the suffering troops of the garrison. He 
immediately reported the fact to the General, and advised that the 
said prisoners should be sent directly forward to Skenesborough, 
and despatched to their respective homes, without allowing 

* " Although General Carleton had acquiesced in the harsh treatment of Ethan 
Allen, yet the prisoners who fell into his hands met with usage in every respect as 
good as that of the British soldiers, except in the necessary restraints of confinement. 
This was declared in a letter to Washington from Major Meigs, when he returned 
on his parole the Summer following. The soldiers were confined in the Jesuits' 
College, and the oflicers in the Seminary. The latter, after the siege was raised, 
had permission to walk in a large garden adjoining their quarters. Major Meigs 
left three hundred prisoners in Cluebec about the middle of May. When they were 
released for exchange, General Carleton supplied them with articles of clothing, in 
which they were deficient. It was said, that when some of his officers spoke to him 
of this act, as an unusual degree of lenity toward prisoners of war, he replied,— 
" Since we have tried in vain to make them acknowledge us as brothers, let us at 
least send them away disposed to regard us as first cousins." Having been in- 
formed that many persons suffering from wounds and various disorders were con- 
cealed in the woods and obscure places, fearing that if they appeared openly they 
would be seized as prisoners and severely treated ; he issued a proclamation com- 
manding the militia officers to search for such persons, bring them to the general 
hospital, and procure for them all necessary relief at the public charge. He also 
invited all such persons to come forward voluntarily, and receive the assistance they 
needed ; assuring them, " that as soon as their health should be restored, they should 
" have free liberty to return to their respective provinces." — Sparks, 



166 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

them to mingle with the troops at that place. The suggestion 
was adopted.* 

Nor were the difficulties enumerated, all which the officers 
had to encounter. The spirit of disaffection was far more ex- 
tensive than those who are left to contemplate the scenes 
through which their fathers passed, and the discouragements 
against which they were compelled to struggle, have been wont 
to suppose. The burden of many of General Schuyler's let- 
ters, and also the letters of other officers, during the whole of 
this season, was the frequency of desertions to the ranks of the 
enemy. 

Glancing for a moment at the situation of affairs at the 
south, the gloom of the picture is somewhat relieved. The 
expedition of General Clinton and Sir Peter Parker, for the re- 
duction of Charleston, had signally failed. The defence of the 
fort bearing his own name, by Colonel Moultrie, was one of 
the most gallant exploits of the whole contest, and served to 
lighten the despondency that had been produced by the disas- 
ters we have been sketching at the north. It was at this place 
that the celebrated Sergeant Jasper signalized himself, when 
the flag-staff was shot away, by leaping from the parapet of the 
fort upon the beach, seizing the flag, and, amid the incessant 
firing of the fleet, mounting, and again placing it on the ram- 
part.t 

But the grand event of the year, the transactions of which 
are now under review, was the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, a motion for which was submitted in Congress by 
Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, on the 7th of June, and the 
Declaration itself solemnly adopted on the 4th of July. This 
measure at once cut off all hope of reconciliation with the pa- 
rent country, and all prospect of a termination of the war, un- 
less by the complete triumph in arms of one party or the other. 
Such a declaration was an event not originally anticipated, 
even if desired, by the mass of the people ; although it had un- 
questionably, and from the first, entered into the calculations of 
the daring master spirits of the movement in Boston. It had 
furthermore been greatly accelerated by the conduct of the 

* Conversations of the author with the venerable Colonel Trumbull, while these 
pages were under revision. 

t Garden's Anecdotes of the American Revolution, 



1776.] AFFAIRS IN TRYON COUNTY. 167 

British government itself, during the preceding session of Par- 
hament, by act of which the Americans had been declared out 
of the Royal protection ; so widely mistaken had been the Con- 
gress of the preceding year, which had adjourned with strong 
hopes that the differences between the two countries would 
soon be adjusted to their mutual satisfaction.* At the same 
time the parent government was putting forth its utmost ener- 
gies to crush the Colonies at a blow. For this purpose, 25,000 
British troops were to be employed, in addition to 17,000 Ger- 
man mercenaries purchased from the Landgrave of Hesse 
Cassel, the Duke of Brunswick, and the Count of Han an. 
These troops, together with the Canadian recruits, the American 
loyalists, and the Indians, it was intended should constitute an 
invading force of 55,000 men. With such preparations in 
prospect against them, it was no time for inactivity on the part 
of the Colonists ; and having by the Declaration thrown away 
the scabbard of the sword that had been drawn fifteen months 
before, there was no alternative but resistance to the end. 

Recurring, for a brief space, to the history proper of the 
Blohawk Valley, it may be assumed, in behalf of its patriotic 
population, that the new attitude of the country was neither 
unexpected nor unwelcome. On the contrary, having been 
among the earliest to propose a separation, the great act of the 
4tli of July was nowhere more cordially received than by the 
Whigs of Tryon County. Nor did they falter in their purposes 
of sustaining the cause in which the country had embarked, 
amid all the disasters of the early part of the season or those 
that followed. In their own section of country, however, the 
flight of Sir John Johnson and his retainers was the only im- 
portant incident occurring during that memorable year. Still, 
there was no relaxation of vigilance, or of preparation for the 
worst, should the storm of war, so long muttering in the dis- 
tance, actually break upon those settlements. Tlie frontiers 
were at all times liable to the sudden irruptions of savages, and 
it was necessary to keep scouting parties continually upon 
the alert. Cherry Valley being the principal settlement south 
of the Mohawk, and lying directly in the line of communica- 
tion between the Mohawk Castles and the Indian post at Ogh- 



• Marshall's Life of Wa-hiiiHton, Vol, I. Chap. iv. 

26 ^ 



168 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

kwaga,* was particularly exposed. Early in the present Sum- 
mer, therefore, a company of rangers was organized under the 
command of Captain Robert M'Kean. The public service re- 
quiring the Captain and his little corps elsewhere, the in- 
habitants strongly remonstrated with the Committee of Safety 
against the removal of that corps, but without effect. They 
next addressed themselves to the Provincial Congress of New- 
York, and by a forcible and eloquent appeal, obtained another 
company of rangers to be stationed among them under the 
command of Captain Winn.f These papers were written with 
ability, and with the energy of men in earnest. They had 
even then received, through their missionaries, intimations that 
Sir John Johnson and Colonel John Butler were instigating 
the Indians to make a descent upon them ; and already were 
the scattered settlers in other and newer locations coming in to 
Cherry Valley for protection. Apprehending, also, sudden ir- 
ruptions of scalping parties, the aged, and such as from other 
causes were exempt from military service, now organized 
themselves into a company for the protection of the settlement. 
In the course of the season General Schuyler was directed 
by Congress to cause Fort Stanwix to be strengthened, and 
other fortifications to be erected at proper places along the Mo- 
hawk river. Colonels Van Schaick and Dayton had previously 
been stationed in Tryon County with detachments of regular 
troops — the former at Johnstown and the latter at German Flatts. 
Upon Colonel Dayton was imposed the duty of carrying for- 
ward the works at Fort Stanwix, for which purpose the Tryon 
County militia were ordered to his assistance. The site of 
that military defence had early been improved, as one of the 
most important inland posts of the Colonies. It was originally 
built early in 1758, during the French war of 1755 — 61, 
by General Stanwix, for the purpose of commanding the car- 
rying-place between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek, 
leading into the Oneida Lake, and thence into Lake Ontario, 

* As with most other Indian names, tliere is difficulty respecting the correct or- 
thography of this place. It is spelt Oquaga, 0:^hquaga, and sometimes Oneaquaga. 
Eirant and John Norton, however, were wont to spell it Oghkwaga. I have adopted 
the latter method, as supported by the best authorities. — Author. 

j The names of the Cherry Valley Committee who took the lead in these mat- 
ters, were, John Moore, Samuel Clyde, Samuel Campbell, Samuel Dunlop, James 
Scott, Robert Wells, James Richey, an J .'amcs Moore. 



1776.] GENERAL PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 1G9 

by the Oswego river.* There were several other fortifications 
at different points of the narrow strip of land between the two 
streams already mentioned, such as Fort Bull and Fort New- 
port ; the former commanding the Creek, about three miles 
distant. These were stron g redoubts ; but Fort Stanwix was com- 
paratively a formidable work, having its bomb-proofs, its sally- 
port, and a covered way to the spring brook. Altogether 
these works formed an ample defence of the key from Upper 
Canada to the Mohawk Valley, and were likewise of signal 
service for the protection they afforded to the Indian trade. 
But, although the principal fortress had been erected at the 
great expense — enormous in those times — rf 266,400 dollars, 
yet the commencement of the war of the Revolution found 
the whole in ruins. Colonel Dayton appears to have made but 
little progress in re-building the fort, since it will be found 
that other officers had the works in charge early in the follow- 
ing year, and they were far from complete when subsequently 
invested by the modey forces of General St. Leger. Colonel 
Dayton, however, thought proper to change its name in honor 
of the General commanding the Northern department, and it 
was subsequently known as Fort Schuyler during the residue 
of the war.t 

A rapid glance at the other warlike events of the season 
will close the history of the year. Anticipating, on the evacu- 
ation of Boston by General Howe, that his next point of attack 
would be New- York, General Lee was detached by the Com- 
mander-in-chief with a portion of the army, to put Long 
Island and the harbor of New- York in a posture of defence. 
Washington followed soon afterward himself, and established 
his head-quarters in the city. Having been joined by his 
brother. Lord Howe, as commander of the fleet at Halifax, Ge- 
neral, afterward Sir William Howe, with his reinforcements, 
arrived off Sandy Hook — the latter on the 25th of June and 
the former on the 12th of July. General Clinton arriving at 

* The reconstruction of this worit was early pointed out, and strongly urged upon 
General Schuyler, by Washington. 

t There was another Fort Schuyler, built on the present site of Utica during the 
old French war, and named thus in honor of Colonel Schuyler, an uncle of General 
Philip Schuyler of the Revolution. The two are often confounded in history, and 
t'«e change in the name of Fort Stanwi.\ was alike unnecessary and unwise. 



170 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

about the same time from the unsuccessful enterprise against 
Charleston, with Admiral Hotham, the combined forces of the 
enemy now amounted to about 24,000 men, including the 
Hessians. 

liord and Sir William Howe were clothed with powers, as 
Commissioners, to treat with the Colonies for a reconciliation. 
Their pacific errand was proclaimed before hostilities were re- 
commenced, and promises of pardon were proffered to all who 
would avail themselves of the Royal clemency, and return to 
their allegiance and duty. Their proposals, however, were 
considered too exceptionable, both in matter and form, to re- 
ceive the least attention. 

On the 22d of August the British army was landed upon 
Long Island, at Gravesend. The American army at this time 
consisting of 15,000 men, under General Sullivan, was en- 
camped in the neighborhood of Brooklyn. The battle of Long 
Island, which was severely, though ineffectually, contested by 
the American forces under Sullivan and Lord Stirling, was 
fought on the 27th of August. In this action, the loss of the 
enemy was differently reported at from 300 to 450. The loss 
of the Americans was far more considerable. General Wash- 
ington admitted it to be 1000, but is believed only to have re- 
ferred to the loss of the regular troops. General Howe claim- 
ed 1097 prisoners, among whom were Generals Sullivan, 
Stirling, and WoodhuU. On the 30th, the Americans effected 
a masterly retreat across the East river to New- York.* The 
enemy made immediate dispositions for attacking New- York ; 
and so prompt and skilful were his movements, that, in a coun- 
cil of general officers, an evacuation forthwith was deemed the 
only means of saving the army. The British fleet was divided 
into two squadrons, one of which entered the East and the 
other the North river. Under cover of the former. Sir Henry 
Clinton crossed from Long Island, and landed at Kipp's Bay, 
with such celerity that the Americans fled in disorder. Indeed, 

* During the operations upon Long Island and New-Yori?, Captain Brant con- 
trived to pass from Canada and join tlie King's forces. He was vvitli Governor 
Tryon at Flatbush. The late Mr. John Watts, a brother-in-law of Sir John 
Johnson, used to speak of taking a walk with Gov. Tryon, Colonel Asgill, and 
Brant, through an orchard in that village. During their stroll, Brant plucked a 
crude crab-apple from a tree, which, on tasting it, he threw away — screwing his 
face, and exclaiming; — " It's as bitter as a Presbyterian !" 



1776.] GENERAL PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 171 

the evacuation resembled rather a flight than a retreat ; all the 
heavy artillery, military stores, baggage, and provisions, falling 
into the hands of the enemy. A large portion of the Ameri- 
can forces, at that time, consisted of militia, the conduct of 
which was scandalous beyond endurance. They deserted, not 
only in small numbers, but in companies and squadrons, when- 
ever they could ; and their conduct in the face of the enemy, 
or rather when running from the faces of the enemy, was most 
cowardly. So disorderly was their demeanor, and so like pol- 
troons did they behave when flying from Sir Henry Clinton, 
that even Washington himself lost his patience, and was ex- 
cited to a degree of hot exasperation. In writing from Har- 
laem Heights to a friend. General Greene said that two bri- 
gades of militia ran away from about fifty men, leaving the Com- 
mander-in-chief on the ground within eighty yards of the 
enemy, so vexed with the conduct of his troops, that he sought 
death rather than life.* His attempts to stop them were fruit- 
less. He drew his sword, and threatened to run them through, 
and cocked and snapped his pistols.t But all his exertions 
were to no purpose. In a letter upon the subject of this infa- 
mous conduct of the militia, to the President of Congress, the 
Commander-in-chief declared that, were he called to give his 
opinion upon oath, he should say that the militia did more in- 
jury to the service than good. 

General Greene had strongly urged the destruction of the city 
by fire — a measure afterward so effectively adopted by Count Ros- 
topchin, Governor of the ancient capital of Muscovy, to arrest 
the career of Napoleon — that the enemy might be deprived of the 
advantage of establishing their winter-quarters therein. His rea- 
sons for this measure were sound, and it ought, doubtless, to have 
been adopted. Washington was believed to be of the same opi- 
nion, especially as two thirds of the property which it was pro- 
posed to destroy, belonged to undisguised loyalists. But Congress 
would not allow the sacrifice ;t and, on the 15th of September, 
the city was in full possession of the enemy — General Wash- 
ington having retired with the army to Kingsbridge. From 

* Sparks t Gordon. 

I Washington's letter to the President of Congress, and also a letter from Gen. 
Greene. — Vide Sparks. 



172 LIFE OF BRANT. [1776. 

the superiority in numbers and discipline of the British and 
German troops, the Americans were unable to meet them in 
the field, and tlie policy of evacuatin,^ and retreating was 
adopted. A succession of movements, manoeuvres, and en- 
gagements, followed in Westchester, terminating, for the mo- 
ment, in the drawn battle of White Plains on the 18th of 
October.* Washington then divided his army, and crossed 
into New Jersey with a portion, leaving 7500 troops at North 
Castle, under General Lee. The next disaster to the American 
arms was the fall of Fort Washington, on the l(3th of Novem- 
ber, after a brave defence by Colonel Magaw, notwithstanding 
the refusal of a portion of his troops to man the lines.t That 
fortress was attacked with great gallantry at four points, led by 
Generals Knyphausen, Matthews, Cornwallis, and Lord Percy. 
The regiment of Colonel Rawlings, on that occasion, behaved 
with great spirit ; nor would Colonel Magaw have given up 
the post but for the conduct of the disaffected.! After the fall 
of Fort Washington, Lord Cornwallis crossed into New Jersey 
with 6000 men, for the purpose of attacking Fort Lee, of 
which General Lee was then in command. But the means of 
this sldlful officer were not adequate to the defence of the post 
against a force of such unequal strength ; the people of New 
Jersey were at that time intent rather to make terms with the 
enemy, than to afford efficient assistance ; II and the garrison 
was saved by an evacuation. General Washington had taken 
post at Newark ; but the fall of Forts Washington and Lee, 
together with the diminution of his own strength by the expi- 
ration of the term of service of his men, obliged him to retreat 
rapidly across New Jersey to the other side of the Delaware, 



* The Stockbridge Indians were engaged with the Americans in this battle. 
They fought bravely, and suffered severely. 

f Letter of Washington to his brother, John Augustine Washington, dated 
from Hackensack, Nov. 19, 1776. 

I Idem. 

II " The conduct of the Jerseys has been most infamous. Instead of turning out 
to defend their country and affording aid to our army, they are making their sub- 
missions as fast as they can. If the Jerseys had given us any support, we might 
have made a stand at Hackensack, and after that at Brunswick ; but the few militia 
that were in arms disbanded themselves, and left tlie poor remains of an army to 
make the best we could of it." — Letter of Washington to his brother, John Augiistine 
Washinslon, Nov. 18, 177G. 



1776.] GENERAL PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 173 

followed so closely by Lord Cornwallis, that the van of the 
pursuers was often engaged with the rear of the pursued. 

In addition to this succession of disasters, Sir Guy Carleton 
had appeared upon Lake Champlain with a flotilla, superior to 
that of the Americans under General Arnold, and which 
seemed to have been called into existence as if by enchantment. 
Two naval engagements followed, on the 11th and 13th of 
October, contested with undaunted bravery,* but resulting in the 
defeat of Arnold, the annihilation of his flotilla, and the pos- 
session of the Lake and Crown Point by the ii)c. Early in 
December Rhode Island also fell into his hands. The forces 
of the Commander-in-chief at the same time numbered only 
from two to three thousand men ; and scarcely a new recruit 
supplied the places of those whose terms of service were expir 
ing. And even those recruits that were furnished, were so 
badly supplied with officers, as almost to extinguish the hope 
of forming an army from which any efficient services were to 
be expected, t 

Worse than all, a spirit of disaffection was rife in the Slates 
of New-York and New Jersey, which not only thwarted the 
purposes of the Commander-in-chief, but threatened the most 
lamentable consequences to the cause. Although there were 
many stanch Whigs in Albany and its vicinity, there were 
many vigilant loyalists in that region, who continued to keep in 
correspondence with the enemy during nearly the whole contest. 
In the Summer of this year. General Schuyler had detected a 
dangerous plot in the neighborhood of Albany, and apprehended 
some of the ringleaders. During the operations of the army 
in the Autumn, in New- York and its neighborhood, it was only 
with the utmost difficulty that large portions of the fluctuating 
army could be kept in the line of duty, while other large por- 
tions either went off in masses, or proved unfaithful while they 
remained. The conduct of the militia at Fort Washington, 

* Gen. Gates wrote to Col. Ten Eyck, from Ticonderoga, on the 13th of Octo- 
ber — " The engagement began on the 1 1 th, and continues to this day. The enemy's 
fleet is much superior to ours, and we maintain a running fight. All our officers 
behave with the greatest spirit." — MS. letter in the author's possession. 

f " The different States, without regard to the qualifications of an officer, quar- 
relling about the appointments, and nominating such as are not fit to be shoe-blacks, 
from the local attachments of this or that member of Assembly." — Letter from Wash- 
ington to his brother, 19th November, 1776. 



174 LIFE OF BRANT, [177G. 

has been noted. General Greene wrote on the 5th of Novem- 
ber, that the New- York mihtia, under Colonel Hawkes Hay, 
actually refused to do duty. They said General Howe had 
promised them peace, liberty, and safety ; and that was all they 
wanted.* 

These are but a few of the discourag-ements under which the 
Commander-in-chief was laboring. To borrow his own ex- 
pressive language in the private letter to his brother cited in 
a preceding note, " You can form no idea of the perplexity of 
" my situation. No man, I believe, ever had a greater choice of 
"difficulties, and less means to extricate himself from them." 
Nevertheless, the last sun of that year did not sink behind so 
deep a cloud of gloom as had been anticipated. In the north, 
General Carleton, who had occupied Crown Point after the 
defeat of Arnold's flotilla, had returned to Canada without at- 
tempting any thing farther ; and before the close of the year 
the Commander-in-chief had the satisfaction to announce, that 
instead of imitating the bad example of others, the Continental 
regiments from the Eastern States had agreed to remain six 
weeks beyond the term of their enlistment.t In addition to 
which were the bold return of Washington upon Trenton, and 
his brilliant victory over the Hessian forces at that place, on the 
morning of the 2Gth of December. '• This well-judged and 
" successful enterprise revived the depressed spirits of the Colo- 
" nists, and produced an immediate and happy effect in re- 
" cruiting the American army." + 

* Sparks— Life and Cor. of Washington. 

t Letter from Washington to the commander at Morristown, Dec. 30. 

X Holmes's Annals. 



t 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Continuation of movements in New Jersey— Extinguishment of the council-fire at 
Onondaga — Tryon County — Colonel Harper's mission to Oghkwaga — The Har- 
per family — Adventure at the Johnstone settlement— Capture of Good Peter and 
his party — Thayendanegea crosses from Canada to Oghkwaga — Interview with 
the Rev. Mr. Johnstone — Doubtful course of Brant — Feverish situation of the 
people — Expedition of General Herkimer to Unadilla — Remarkable meeting be- 
tween Herkimer and Brant — Meditated act of treachery — Wariness of the 
chief — Meeting abruptly terminated — Ended in a storm — Brant draws off to Os- 
wego — Grand council there — The Indians generally join the Royal standard — 
Approach of Brant upon Cherry Valley — How defeated — Death of Lieutenant 
Wormwood. 

Having secured his prisoners on the Pennsylvania side of 
the Delaware, General Washington established himself at 
Trenton. But he was not long permitted its undisturbed pos- 
session. Collecting his forces, Cornwallis advanced rapidly up- 
on the capital of New Jersey, where he arrived on the 2d of Ja- 
nuary. Some skirmishing ensued toward evening, butbotharmies 
encamped for the night without coming to a general engagement 
— being separated only by Assumpinck Creek — and apparently 
both expecting a battle in the morning. The force of the en- 
emy, however, was too great to render it safe for the American 
Commander-in-chief to hazard an action. By an adroit and 
masterly movement, therefore, leaving his fires burning. Gene- 
ral Washington succeeded in getting away unperceived, and 
throwing himself into the enemy's rear. The battle and vic- 
tory of Princeton followed, and the American army moved to 
Morristown, wiiile Cornwallis hastened back to New Bruns- 
wick and thence to New- York — the different detachments of 
British troops, which had been scattered through New Jersey, 
being at all points discomfited. 

Returning from this digression to the Indian relations of 
New- York, there is one event to be noted, the character of 
which cannot be explained. Among^ the manuscripts preserved 
in the family of the hero of Oriskany,* is a speech from the 
Oneida chiefs to Colonel Elmore, the officer who, at the com- 
mencement of the present year, was in the command of Fort 
Schuyler, announcing the final extinguishment of the great 

♦ Colonel, afterward General Herkimer. 

27 



17^ LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

council-fire of the Six Nations at Onondaga. As the central 
nation of the confederacy, their general councils, time imme- 
morial, had been holden at the Onondaga Castle, at which, in 
their own figurative language, their council-fire was ever kept 
burning. These councils assembled annually to discuss the 
exterior relations, and all matters of national concernment. 
They were composed of chiefs delegated from each member of 
the federative republic, and sometimes numbered as many as 
eighty sachems in the assembly.* By what means the event 
had been accomplished — whether the calamity was the result 
of pestilence' or war — the speech of the Oneidas does not in- 
form us ; although it announces the fall of a large number of 
the Onondaga warriors, in connexion with the catastrophe. 
Still, the transaction is veiled in darkness so thick as to baffle 
investigation. The following is the speech :— 

" Fort Schuyler, Jon. 19th, 1777. 
" Speech of the Oneida Chiefs to Col. Elmore. 
" Brother : We are sent here by the Oneida chiefs, in con- 
junction with the Onondagas. They arrived at our village 
yesterday. They gave us the melancholy news that the grand 
council-fire at Onondaga was extinguished. We have lost out 
of their town by death ninety, among whom are three princi 
pal sachems. We, the remaining part of the Onondagas, do now 
inform our brethren that there is no longer a council-fire at 
the capital of the Six Nations. However, we are determined 
to use our feeble endeavors to support peace through the con- 
federate nations. But let this be kept in mind, that the 
council-fire is extinguished. It is of importance to our well- 
being that this be immediately communicated to General 
Schuyler, and likewise to our brothers the Mohawks. In order 
to effect this, we deposite this belt with Tekeyanedonhotte, 
Colonel Elmore, commander at Fort Schuyler, who is sent 
here by General Schuyler to transact all matters relative to 

* " The national council took cognizance of war and peace, of the affairs of the 
tributary nations, and of their negotiations with the French and English Colonies. 
All tlieir proceedings were conducted with great deliberation, and were distinguish- 
ed for order, decorum, and solemnity. In eloquence, in dignity, and in all the 
characteristics of profound policy, they surpassed an assembly of feudal barons, and 
were perhaps not far inferior to the great Amphyctionic council of Greece." — De 
Wilt Clinton. 



1777.] ONONDAGA council-firf;. 1^7 

peace. We therefore request him to forward this intelligence 
in the first place to General Herkimer, desiring him to commu- 
nicate it to the Mohawk Castle near to him, and then to Major 
Fonda, requesting him to immediately communicate it to the 
Lower Castle of Mohawks. Let the belt then be forwarded to 
General Schuyler, that he may know that our council-fire is 
extinguished, and can no longer burn."* 

This singular document is worthy of preservation, not only 
as the authentic, but as the only account of the occurrence re- 
corded. It contains a mystery, however, which cannot now be 
solved. Still, as no belligerent events are known to have been 
enacted in the Onondaga country during that winter, the most 
plausible conjecture would attribute the mortality indicated by 
the speech to some pestilential disorder, which might have 
swept over them, as with the Schoharie Canton eighteen 
months before. 

In the County of Tryon, which now demands our chief at- 
tention, great uneasiness was again awakened among the inha- 
bitants, toward the close of the winter, especially in the remoter 
settlements south of the Mohawk, by the reported gathering of 
the Indians at Oghkwaga. The fact that their numbers were 
increasing at that point having been satisfactorily ascertained, 
Colonel John Harper, of Harpersfield, was despatched thither 
by the Provincial Congress of New- York to ascertain their in- 
tentions. Taking every necessary measure of precaution to 
guard against surprise, and to be ready for any emergency, by 
having the officers of his militia regiment on the qui vive^ 
Colonel Harper departed upon his mission, accompanied only 
by a single white man and one Indian. He arrived on the 27th 
of February, and was well received by the Indians, who mani- 
fested a perfectly friendly disposition toward himself, and also 
toward the settlements. So far from exhibiting any belligerent 
intentions, they expressed their sorrow for the troubles of the 
country, and declared their determination to take no part in the 
controversy. Satisfied as to the sincerity of their professions, 
although subsequent events proved that they must have been 

* Transcribed by the author from the original draught, as furnished to General 
Herkimer by Colonel Elmore. 



178 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

dissembling, Colonel Harper supplied the means of a festival, 
and presented them with an ox, which Avas roasted for the oc- 
casion.* 

Colonel .Tohn Harper was one of four brothers — William, 
John, Alexander, and Joseph Harper, who, with eighteen 
others, planted themselves down upon a tract of country, in 
1768, which was subsequently named Harpersfield. After his 
return from this mission, he was for a time in command of one 
of the little forts in Schoharie. On one occasion, in March or 
April of this year, he took a circuit alone from Schoharie 
through the w^oods to Harpersfield, and thence, when returning, 
struck farther to the westward, toward the head waters of the 
Susquehanna. While ascending a hill, he suddenly saw a 
company of Indians approaching. As they had discovered 
him, any attempt to fly would have been vain. They would 
have shot him down. Having a great coat over his military 
dress, lie made no attempt to avoid a meeting, and in passing, 
the Colonel and the Indians exchanged salutations. In one of 
the Indians he recognized Peter, a Mohawk wliom he had 
formerly seen at Oghkwaga. They did not recognize him, 
however ; but from his manner of speech supposed him to be 
a loyalist, and under that impression communicated to him the 
fact that their destination was to cut off '=the Johnstone settle- 
ment," a small Scotch Colony on the eastern shore of the Sus- 
quehanna, near Unadilla, or Anaquaqua, as that place was 
sometimes called. Having obtained this information, he 
^ changed his course, and hurrying back to Harpersfield, collect- 
ed fifteen resolute men, with whom he gave chase to the ma- 
rauders. In addition to their arms, the Colonel caused each 
man of his little band to provide himself with two days' pro- 
visions and a rope. In the course of the following night, in 
descending the valley of the Charlotte river, they descried the 
fire where the Indians were encamped. Halting for a while to 
refresh and prepare for the contest, the Colonel and his men 
now stole upon the foe with the utmost caution. It was al- 
most day-light, and the Indians were in a profound slumber — • 
their arms being stacked in the middle of their little encamp- 
ment. These were carefully removed by Harper and his party, 

* Annals of Try on County. 



1777.] COLONEL HARPER — THE TORIES. 179 

as a measure of precaution. The moment for action having 
arrived, singling each his man, the cords were made ready, 
and every Indian, ere he was well awake, found himself bound 
and in the grasp of a foe. The sleeping Gulliver was not 
more thoroughly secured by the vexatious net-work of the 
Lilliputians. But Peter and his companions were not secured 
by Lilliputian ties, and they had to deal with a different race of 
men. When it became light in the morning, Peter discovered 
his captor. " Ugh !" he exclaimed — " Colonel Harper ! — Why 
did I not know you yesterday V The gallant Colonel pro- 
ceeded to Albany with his prisoners, and surrendered them to 
the commanding officer of the station. It was a bold and well- 
executed achievement — and all the better that it was bloodless. 

Although, as we have seen. Colonel Harper had parted from 
the Indians at Oghkwaga upon the most amicable terms, yet 
indications of a different temper were soon afterward mani- 
fested by this fickle people, of which the movement of Peter, 
so opportunely discovered and intercepted, was the first out- 
break. Thayendanegea, likewise, appeared among them in 
the course of the Spring, having separated from Guy Johnson, 
between whom and himself some difficulty had occurred. In- 
telligence of the chieftain's departure from Canada, and march 
across the country to Oghkwaga with a large body of warriors, 
was received by the Tryon County Committee early in May 
from Fort Schuyler, and communicated to the Provincial Con- 
gress by its chairman, Isaac Paris. Not a little additional un- 
easiness was also occasioned at the same time by the spirit 
discernible among the Tories. Many of those loyalists, who 
had taken their departure the preceding year with Sir John 
Johnson, had, nevertheless, left their wives and children in the 
remote settlements, with whom they were evidently in commu- 
nication ; while scouting parties, both of Tories and Indians, 
were hovering on the northern outskirts of the county.* 

The presence of the crafty chieftain at Oghkwaga did not 
improve the pacific disposition of the natives, as will appear in 
the sequel ; although Brant himself had not thus far committed 
any act of hostility within the province of New- York. The 
fact of his having borne a part in the battle of the Cedars seems, 
moreover, not to have been known in the Mohawk Valley, since 
• MS. documents in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany. 



180 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

they were yet uncertain whether it was his intention to raise 
the hatchet in the contest or not. 

But these uncertainties were not of long duration. In the 
month of June, 1777, the chief of the Mohawks ascended the 
Susquehanna from Oghkwaga to Unadilla,* attended hy 
seventy or eighty of his warriors, and requested an interview 
with the Rev. Mr. Johnstone and the officers of tlie mihtia of 
the neighborhood. He stated that the object of his visit was 
to procure provisions, of which his people were greatly in want. 
And such were their necessities, that if peaceable means would 
not answer, the Indians must obtain them by force. 

Advantage was taken of the interview to sound the chief as 
to his future intentions — whether he was for peace or for war; 
and his answers were far less difficult of solution than the rid- 
dle of the Sphynx. He complained of the ill-treatment which, 
as he alleged, some of the Mohawks, who had remained be- 
hind on the flight of the majority of the nation, had received 
at the hands of the Whigs. The Mohawks, he said, were as 
free as the air they breathed, and were determined to remain 
so ; and they could not brook it that any of their brethren 
should be seized and imprisoned, as had been the case at the 
Castle.t These, he demanded, should be set at liberty, and suf- 
fered to remove from the country. In regard to the question 
of peace or war, he said the Mohawks were always warriors — 
that their agreement with the King was very strong, and they 
were not such villains as to break their covenant. 

The visit continued two days, during which time the Indians 
were well supplied with provisions, and on their departure 
permitted to take away some live cattle and sheep. The in- 
habitants, however, scattered and few, and quite remote from 
any considerable settlement, no longer feeling themselves safe 
in their houses, sought protection in places of greater security — 
principally in Cherry Valley, the place of their first location, 
whence they had removed, a few years before, into the vale of 
the Susquehanna. Some of the scattered settlers in the Una- 
dilla region fled to the German Flatts, and others, probably, to 
the older towns upon the Hudson. 

* Tunadilla was the Indian name of this place, nor does the propriety of the al- 
teration appear. 

t Probably on suspicion of maintaining correspondence vvitli the enemy. 



1777.] Herkimer's expedition to unadilla. 181 

The Indian forces of Captain Brant continuing to increase 
at Oghkwaga, and the anxiety of the people becoming greater 
with every report from that quarter, General Herkimer* deter- 
mined to repair thither, and obtain an interview, ■ For this 
purpose the General dispatched a messenger to that place, and 
invited the chief to meet him at Unadilla — moving forward 
himself at the same time, at the head of about three hundred of 
the local militia, from the regiments of Colonels Cox, Klock, 
and Isenlord, well armed and provided. The precise object of 
the General, in seeking this interview with Brant, remains to 
this day more a matter of conjecture than of certainty. The 
few scattered fragments of Herkimer's correspondence which 
have fallen into the hands of the writer, show that it was no 
sudden movement ; but, on the contrary, that General Schuyler, 
Colonel Van Schaick, Colonel Harper, and others, were con- 
sulted upon the subject. On the application of Herkimer, Co- 
lonel Van Schaick was detached to his assistance on the 15th 
of June, with one hundred and fifty men, with which force he 
repaired to Cherry Valley, but could proceed no farther for 
want of provisions. General Schuyler was also to repair 
thither in person, in the event of his presence being deemed 
necessary.t Ostensibly, the expedition was one of peace ; t but 
the extent of the preparations, and the physical strength of the 
expedition, imparted an equivocal character to the movement ; 
not more so, however, than was the conduct of Brant during 
the whole Spring, since his proceedings were such as to keep 
the minds of the people in a state of feverish excitement and 
ceaseless uncertainty. Thus, on the 10th of June, Colonel 
Harper wrote urgently to General Herkimer for a supply of 
ammunition, in the expectation of an immediate hostile irrup- 
tion of Brant into the Valley of the Schoharie Kill. On the 
13th, the Cherry Valley Committee wrote to the General a still 

* In the Autumn of 1776, three Brigadier-Generals of the miUtia were commis- 
Bioned by the Provincial Congress of New- York, of whom Colonel Nicholas Her- 
kimer was one. The Herkimer family was one of the first to settle at the German 
Flatts, and tlie name is among those of the original patentees — not Herkimer, how- 
ever, which is a corruption — but Erg-emwe, which was the true German name. — Let- 
ter of L. Ford to the author. 

t MS. letters of Colonels Van Schaick, Tupper, and others, among Gen. Herki- 
mer's papers. 

I Letter of L. Ford, Esq. to the author. 



182 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

more alarming lettei. Brant, accordino^ to this statement, in 
connexion with some of the loyahsts of Unadilla, had marked 
a path directly through the forest to J5]sopus, by which route 
the Tories of Ulster and Orange Counties were to join his forces 
at Oghkwaga; at which place the chief had vaunted that 
shortly he would not fear the approach of three thousand men.* 
On the other hand. Major Fonda wrote, on the 19th of June, 
that an embassy of chiefs and sachems of the Cayuga and 
Seneca nations, having repaired to Oghkwaga to remonstrate 
with Thayendanegea against farther hostilities, the latter had 
determined to listen to their councils, and withdraw into the 
Cayuga country. In pursuance of this policy, it was added, on 
what was esteemed good authority, that the Mohawk cliief had 
released a prisoner with his own hands, telling the captors that 
they had acted wrong.t 

Such was the uncertain condition of things when the expe- 
dition under consideration was commenced. Brant and Herki- 
mer had been near neighbors and personal friends, before the 
troubles came on,t and it is possible the General still cherished 
a belief that he might yet detach the dusky warrior from the 
cause he had embraced, but nevertheless might not be disin- 
clined to relinquish. Perhaps he designed nothing more than 
to drive him from his equivocal position. Perhaps, also, should 
opportunity be presented, it was his intention to seize his per- 
son. But be these suppositions as they may, it will be seen 
that there was at least one moment in which he contemplated 
a more decisive course. 

It was a full week after the arrival of General Herkimer at 
Unadilla before Captain Brant made his appearance. He came 
to the neighborhood of the General's encampment, accompanied 
by five hundred warriors. Having halted, he dispatched a 

* MS. letter from Samuel Clyde to General Herkimer. 

t MS. letter of Major Jelles Fonda^ among the Herkimer papers. 

I The residence of General Herkimer was a short distance below the Little Falls 
of the Mohawk, near the river. His mansion, built of brick, is yet standing. 
Brant's farm, on which he was residing when the Revolutionary storm arose, was 
near the Upper Indian Castle, about three miles below the house of Plerkimer. The 
farm lies directly upon the river, and is now very valuable. I visited the place in 
the Autumn of 1835. No other memorials of its last noble possessor remained than 
the cellar of his house, and the apple-trees which stood before his door. These were 
vigorous, and in full bearing. — Author. 



1777.J EXPEDll'ION TO UNADlLLA. 183 

runner to General Herldmer, with a message, desiring to be 
informed of the object of his visit. General Herkimer replied 
that he had merely come to see and converse with his brother, 
Captain Brant. The quick-witted messenger inquired if all 
those men wished to talk to his chief too ? However, he said 
to the General that he would carry his talk back to his chief, 
but he charged him that he must not cross the field upon the 
margin of which they were standing, and departed. But 
an arrangement was soon made, through the agency of mes- 
sengers, by which a meeting was effected. The scene exhi- 
bited at this interview, as related by those who were present 
at it, was novel and imposing. The hostile parties were now 
encamped within the distance of two miles from each other. 
About midway between their encampments, a temporary shed 
was erected, sufficiently extensive to allow some two hundred 
persons to be seated. By mutual stipulation their arms were 
to be left in their respective encampments.* Soon after the 
adjustment of the preliminaries and the completion of the fix- 
tures above mentioned, the chief of the Mohawks himself ap- 
peared in the edge of the distant forest, and approached the 
place designated, already in the occupation of Herkimer, some- 
what warily, accompanied by Captain Bull, (a Tory,) Wilham 
Johnson, (son of Sir William, by Brant's sister Mary,) a subor- 
dinate chief of the Mohawks, an Indian woman, and also by 
about forty warriors. After some little parleying, a circle was 
formed by General Herkimer, into which Brant and the Gene- 
ral entered, together with the other Indian chief and two of 
Herkimer's officers. After the interchange of a few remarks, 
the chieftain, keeping an eagle-eye upon his visitor, inquired 
the reason of his being thus honored. General Herkimer re- 
plied, as he had done to the avant-coicrier, that he had come to 
see him on a friendly visit. " And all these have come on a 
friendly visit, too ?" replied the chief " All want to see the 
poor Indians ; it is very kind." he added, with a sarcastic curl 
of the lip. General Herkimer expressed a desire to go forward 
to the village, but the chief told him he was quite near enough, 
and that he must not proceed any farther. 

The General next endeavored to enter into a conversation 
with the Mohawk touching the difficulties with England, in or- 

♦ MS. statement of facts collected by L, Ford, Esq, 

28 



184 LIFE OF BRANT, [1777. 

der to ascertain his feelings and intentions. The conference now 
became earnest and animated, although the chief at first gave 
Herkimer evasive and oracular answers. To a question, how- 
ever, put to him directly, he finally replied : — " That the In- 
" dians were in concert with the King, as their fathers had 
" been : That the King's belts were yet lodged with them, and 
" they could not violate their pledge : That General Herkimer 
" and his followers had joined the Boston people against their 
" sovereign : That although the Boston people were resolute, 
" yet the King would humble them : That General Schuyler 
'• was very smart on the Indians at the treaty of German Flatts,* 
" but at the same time was not able to afford the smallest arti- 
" cle of clothing : And finally, that the Indians had formerly 
" made war on the white people when they were all united ; 
" and as they were now divided, the Indians were not fright- 
" ened."t 

Colonel Cox, who was in the suite of General Herkimer, 
then made a few remarks, the substance of which was, that if 
such was the fixed determination of the Indians, nothing far- 
ther need be said. But his manner, or some of the expressions 
uttered by the Colonel, which have not been preserved, gave 
offence to the chief. He was exceedingly irritated ;t and by a 
signal to the warriors attending him at a short distance, they 
ran back to their encampment, and soon afterward appeared 
again with their rifles, several of which were discharged, while 
the shrill war-whoop rang through the forest. Meantime, 
however, by explanations or otherwise, the chief was soothed 
and his warriors were kept at a proper distance, although the 
demand of General Herkimer for the surrender of sundry Tories 
was peremptorily refused. The conference ended by an agree- 
ment between the parties to meet again at 9 o'clock the fol- 
lowing morning. General Herkimer and his forces, forbidden 
to advance any farther, encamped as before. § 

The next morning General Herkimer called one of his most 
trusty men aside, Joseph Waggoner by name, for the purpose 
of communicating to him, in confidence, a matter of great 
importance, respecting which the most profound secrecy was 

* Adjourned to Albany. t Annals of Tryon County. 

I Manuscript statement of Joseph Waggoner, in the author's possession. 
S Idem. 



1777.] ATTEMPT UPON HIS LIFE. 1 S5 

enjoined. He then informed Waggoner that he had selected 
him and thre others to perform a high and important duty, re- 
quiring promptness, courage, and decision. His design, the 
General said, was to take the lives of Brant and his three at- 
tendants, on the renewal of their visit that morning. For this 
purpose he should rely upon Waggoner and his three associates, 
on the arrival of the chief and his friends within the circle as 
on the preceding day, each to select his man, and, at a concert- 
ed signal, shoot them down upon the spot. There is something 
so revolting — so rank and foul — in this project of meditated 
treachery, that it is difficult to reconcile it with the known 
character of General Herkimer. And yet it is given on the 
written authority of Waggoner himself, whose character was 
equally respectable. The patriotic veteran, in devising such a 
scheme, had probably reasoned himself into the belief that the 
intended victims were only Indians, and that in the emergency 
of the country, it would be justifiable to do evil that good might 
come. It was, however, a most reprehensible scheme —scarce- 
ly less defensible than the murder, by Catharine de Medicis, of 
some of the Huguenot chiefs, who were invited to Paris under 
the guise of friendship, on the eve of the Bartholomew massa- 
cre, and treacherously taken off by poison ; and equal in its 
purposed atrocity, though upon a smaller scale, to the subse- 
quent treachery of Ali Pacha of Egypt, in regard to the 
Mamelukes, whom he caused to be decoyed into the strong-hold 
of Cairo, and slaughtered. Indian that he was, there is no 
known act of perfidy chargeable upon Brant ; and he had met 
Herkimer on his own invitation. A betrayal of his confidence, 
under those circumstances, would have brought a stain upon 
the character of the Provincials, which all the waters of the 
Mohawk could not have washed away. 

Fortunately, however, the design was not carried into exe- 
cution. Whether the wary chieftain entertained any suspi- 
cions of foul play, is not known. But, certain it is, that his 
precaution and his bearing, when he arrived at Herkimer's 
quarters, were such as to frustrate the purpose. As he entered 
the circle, attended as before, he drew himself up with dignity, 
and addressed General Herkimer as follows : — " I have five 
" hundred warriors with me, armed and ready for battle. You 
" are in my power ; but ar we have been friends and neigh- 



186 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

" bors, I will not take the advantage of you."* Sayina: which, 
at a signal, a host of his armed warriors darted forth from the 
contiguous forest, all painted and ready for the onslaught, as 
the well-known war-whoop but too clearly proclaimed. The 
chief continued the discourse by advising the General to go 
back to his own home — thanked him for his civility in coming 
ftms far to see him, and told him that perhaps he might one 
day return the compliment. Meantime, he said, he would go 
back to his village, and for the present the General might rest 
assured that no hostilities should be committed by the Indians. 
He then requested that the Rev. Mr. Stuart, the English mis- 
sionary at Fort Hunter, might be permitted to retire into Cana- 
da, as also the wife of Colonel Butler. To these requests Ge- 
neral Herkimer assented, although the latter was not complied 
with. He then presented the Indians with ten or a dozen 
heads of cattle, which they fell upon and slaughtered inconti- 
nently.t Brant himself turned proudly away, and buried 
himself in the forest ; while General Herkimer struck his tents, 
and retraced his steps to the valley of the Mohawk. 

Thus terminated this most singular conference. " It was 
" early in July, and the morning was remarkably clear and 
*' beautiful. But the echo of the war-whoop had scarcely died 
" away, before the heavens became black, and a violent storm 
<' obliged each party to seek the nearest shelter. Men less su- 
" perstitious than many of the unlettered yeomen, who, leaning 
" upon their arms, were witnesses of the events of this day, 
'• could not fail in after-times to look back upon the tempest, if 
" not as an omen, at least as an emblem of those bloody mas- 
" sacres with which these Indians and then* associates afterward 
<' visited the inhabitants of this unfortunate frontier."! 

This was the last conference held with the hostile Mohaws. 
Their chief very soon afterward drew off his warriors from the 
Susquehanna, and united them to the forces of Sir John John- 
son and Colonel John Butler, who were concentrating the tories 
and refugees at Oswego. It was at about the same period 
that the officers of the British Indian department had sum- 
moned a general council of the Six Nations, to be held at that 
place ; and it is probable that Brant arrived at the post with his 

* Waggoner's manuscript. f Idem. J Annals of Tryon County. 



1777.] GREAT COUNCIL AT OSWEGO, 187 

warriors for that occasion. According to Ramsay, the invita- 
tions to this council were sent forth by Guy Johnson, the In- 
dians being requested to assemble " to eat the flesh and drink 
the blood of a Bostonian." This language was understood 
figuratively, however, — the roasting of an ox and a banquet be- 
ing intended. 

The council having assembled,* the business was opened by 
the British Commissioners, who informed the chiefs that their 
object in calling the meeting was to engage their assistance in 
subduing the rebel Colonies, the people of which had risen up 
against the good King their master, and were about to rob him 
of a great part of his wealth and possessions. As an induce- 
ment to enter the service, they were promised an ample reward. 
The chiefs in reply, or rather those of them who were averse 
to joining in the war, informed the British officers of the treaty 
of German Flatts and Albany, in which they had bound them- 
selves to take no part in the contest, and the parties to that 
compact repeated their determination to abide by the treaty, and 
not take up the hatchet against their white neighbors. 

The discussions were protracted, nor were the entreaties of 
the Commissioners of any avail against the resolution of the 
Indians to maintain their good faith, until they addressed their 
avarice, " by telling them that the people of the Colonies were 
" few in number, and would be easily subdued ; and that on 
" account of their disobedience to the King, they justly merited 
" all the punishment that it was possible for white men and 
" Indians to inflict upon them. The King," they said, " was 
" rich and powerful, both in money and subjects. His rum 
" was as plenty as the water in Lake Ontario, and his men as 
" numerous as the sands upon its shore ; and the Indians were 
" assured, that if they would assist in the war, and persevere 

* The only account of this great Indian council, (farther than the mere statement 
that such a council was held,) which the author has been able to discover, is that 
given in the life of Mary Jemison, a white woman, who, being taken captive near 
Pittsburgh in 1755, when a child, after her parents were killed, was raised by the 
Indians, and became in fact one of them, in every thing but her birth and complex- 
ion. She married an Indian, and lived to a very advanced age, and died among 
them. She was present at this council ; and from the fact that the truth of other 
portions of her interesting narrative is sustained by other authorities, her statement 
may be received as substantially correct. Tlie life of this remarkable woman, who 
died but a few years since, was published by James D. Bemis, of Canandaigua. 
There will be several occasions of referring to it hereafter. 



188 LIFE OV BRANT. [1777. 

" in their friendship for the King until its close, they should 
" never want for goods or money,"* Overcome by their per- 
severing importunities, and by more direct and palpable appeals 
to their senses, in a rich display of tawdry articles calculated 
to please their fancies, the Indians proved recreant to their 
plighted faith to the Colonies, and concluded a treaty of alliance 
with Great Britain — binding themselves to take up the hatchet 
against the rebels, and continue in his Majesty's, service until 
they were subdued. 

At the close of the treaty, each Indian was presented with a 
suit of clothes, a brass kettle,t a gun, a tomahawk and scalping- 
knife, a quantity of ammunition, a piece of gold, and the pro- 
mise of a bounty upon every scalp they should bring in. 
'• Thus richly clad and equipped, the Indians returned to their 
" respective homes, after an absence of about two weeks, full 
" of the fire of war, and anxious to encounter their (new-made) 
" enemies." 

From that day Thayendanegea was the acknowledged chief 
of the Six Nations, and he soon became one of the master- 
spirits of the motley forces employed by Great Britain in her 
attempts to recover the Mohawk Valley, and to annoy the other 
settlements of what then constituted the North-western frontier. 
Whether in the conduct of a campaign or of a scouting-party, 
in the pitched battle or the foray, this crafty and dauntless 
chieftain was sure to be one of the most efficient, as he was 
one of the bravest, of those who were engaged. Combining 
with the native hardihood and sagacity of his race the advan- 
tages of education and of civilized life, — in acquiring which, he 
had lost nothing of his activity or his power of endurance — he 
became the most formidable border foe with whom the Provin- 
cials had to contend, and his name was a terror to the land. 
His movements were at once so secret and so rapid, that he 
seemed almost to be clothed with the power of ubiquity. 

The first of his hostile demonstrations within the Colony of 
New- York is believed to have been made in the month of May 
preceding the interview v/ith General Herkimer ; although 

* Life of Mary Jemison, written in 1823. 

t The brass kettles received at Oswego by the Senecas, (to which tribe Mary be- 
lonojpd,) on the occasion mentioned in the text, were yet in use in that nation, so late 
as 1823. 



1777.] AFFAIRS AT CHERRY VALLEY. 189 

from the semi-pacific intercourse maintained with him for seve- 
ral weeks longer, the fact was not then certainly known. The 
settlement of Cherry Valley was commenced in 1739 ; and in 
consequence of some threatened Indian troubles, a detachment 
of troops had been stationed there as early as 1763. But no 
military works were erected, and the breaking out of the war 
of the Revolution found the place defenceless. While Brant 
was collecting his warriors at Oghkwaga, however, the inha- 
bitants bethought themselves of the necessity of defences. But 
not having the means to undertake the erection of any formid- 
able work, the house of Colonel Samuel Campbell was selected 
as the largest, strongest, and most eligibly situated for military 
purposes. A rude embankment of logs and earth was thrown 
up around this building, so extended in its dimensions as like- 
wise to include two large barns. These buildings were all 
strengthened, and provided with doors and window-shutters 
bullet-proof Small block-houses were also erected within 
the enclosure ; and to this place, in moments of peril and alarm, 
the inhabitants fled for protection. Martial law was proclaim- 
ed, and no persons were allowed either to enter or leave the 
settlement without permission. 

Toward the close of May, and soon after these precautionary 
measures had been executed, Brant conceived the idea of 
making a descent upon the settlement, for the purpose of either 
killing, or making captive, the principal inhabitants, especially 
the vigilant members of the Committee. It has been stated in 
a former page, that among the precautionary measures adopted 
the preceding year, the exempts from military duty had orga- 
nized themselves into a volunteer company. The martial fever 
of course descended from sire to son ; and as the population 
had been considerably augmented by the arrival of distant set- 
tlers for safety, a goodly number of boys were collected, who 
formed a corps of cadets, with no better armor than woodea 
swords and guns. These juvenile soldiers happened to be 
parading upon the esplanade in front of Colonel Campbell's 
house at the very hour, one bright sunny morning, when 
Brant and his party of warriors, who had secretly arrived from 
Oghkwaga, were reconnoitering the post under shelter of a 
tangled thicket skirting the brow of a hill about a mile distant. 
His vision being somewhat obstructed by the intercepting 



190 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

shrubbery, the chief mistook the lads for bona fide soldiers. 
Observing the semblance of a fortification before described, 
Captain Brant moved his party to a convenient lurking-place 
near the road leading to the Mohawk river, and there lay iu 
ambush for the purpose of obtaining such information as might 
chance to come in his way. A short distance from where the 
chief lay ensconced behind a large rock, " the road wound 
" along near the edge of a cliff, overhanging a rocky glen of 
'' one hundred and fifty feet deep. This chasm was shaded by 
" evergreens, and the whole scene was shadowy and almost 
" dark, even at mid-day. The wildness of the place was in- 
" creased by the dashing of a mountain-torrent into the gloomy 
" abyss, called, by the Indians, the falls of Tekaharawa."* 

It chanced, that on the morning of that day, Lieutenant 
Wormwood, a promising young officer from Palatine, of an 
opulent family, had been despatched to Cherry Valley, with in- 
formation to the authorities that a detachment from Colonel 
Klock's regiment of militia was to march to their defence on 
the following day. It was toward evening that Lieut. Worm- 
wood started on his return to the Mohawk, accompanied by 
the bearer of some despatches, named Peter Sitz. As he mounted 
his horse in the village, he threw down his portmanteau, re- 
marking that he needed not to take it, as he should return on 
the next morning with his company. He was well-mounted, 
and richly dressed " in a suit of ash-colored velvet, which at- 
tracted much attention during his stay ;" and many persons 
remained at the door, looking at the noble bearing of the young 
patriot, until he disappeared behind the crest of the hill in the 
direction of the Tekaharawa. Scarcely, however, had the 
clattering of hoofs died away upon their ears, before a discharge 
of musketry resounded from the glen — the startling report being 
speedily followed by the soldier's horse, returning at full speed, 
the saddle crimsoned with blood. Suspicions of the most pain- 
ful description at once flashed upon the minds of the people, 
and a party was immediately despatched to investigate the cir- 
cumstances. They returned without success that night, but 
on the following morning the body of Wormwood was found 
behind the rock heretofore described, scalped and lifeless. It 

♦ Annals of Try on County. 



1777.] MURDER OP CORNSTOCK. 191 

afterward appeared, that as Wormwood and Sitz approached 
the rock, they were hailed, but instead of answering, they put 
spurs to their horses and endeavored to pass. Being fired upon, 
Lieutenant Wormwood fell wounded, as did the horse of Sitz. 
The Indians rushed forth from their ambuscade, and Sitz was 
made prisoner ; while the gallant officer was scalped by Brant's 
own hand. The chief is said to have lamented the death of 
this young man. They were not only acquaintances, but 
friends ; and he had been fired upon under the supposition that 
he was an officer of the Continental army.* The despatches 
carried by Sitz were double, and it was fortunate that he had 
sufficient presence of mind to destroy the genuine, and deliver 
the delusive papers to his savage captors. Deceived thereby 
as to the real strength at Cherry Valley, Brant retired without 
committing any farther act of hostility. Colonel Klock arrived 
at Cherry Valley on the following morning, accompanied by 
the afflicted father of the slaughtered officer, who was mourned 
and wept by all who knew him. 

Another coincident event, forming an appropriate conclusion 
to the present chapter, was the tragic death of the great Shawa- 
nese chief, Cornstock, with his gallant son, Ellinipsico ; both of 
whom will be remembered as among the brave Indian leaders 
at the battle of the Kanhawa, the last action of the Cresap war, 
in 1774 ; and both of whom were now as basely murdered by 
white men, as were the family of Logan. The circumstances 
attending this foul transaction were these : — Cornstock, after the 
defeat of his warriors at Point Pleasant, and his subsequent treaty 
of peace with Lord Dunmore, had become sincerely and truly 
the friend of the Colonies ; and while the Indians of tlie North- 
west, generally, were preparing to take up arms with the English, 
he exerted himself to the utmost to prevent his own nation from 
any participation in the contest. But the influence of the Bri- 
tish agents, and the example of the surrounding Indian nations, 
were so powerful^ upon the minds of the Shawanese, that Corn- 
stock perceived his pacific efforts were likely to prove futile. 
Thus circumstanced, he repaired to the fort which had been 
erected at Point Pleasant after the battle of the Kanhawa, to 
lay the matter before the officer in command — Captain Ar- 

* Annals of Tryon County, 

29 



192 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777 

buckle — and take his advice. He was accompanied on this 
mission by a young Delaware chief named Redhawk, who had 
also fought by his side in the Cresap war, Having made a full 
developement of the state of Indian affairs in the North-west, 
and frankly admitted that, from the causes already indicated, 
he should be unable to prevent the Shawanese from taking up 
the hatchet in the cause of the Crown, the commander of the 
fort deemed it expedient to detain the old chief, with his Dela- 
ware companion, as hostages for the good conduct of their 
people. Nor did they remain unwillingly — little anticipating 
the fate that awaited them — and giving all the information re- 
specting the Indians and their country, that could be desired by 
the Americans. 

Uneasy at the protracted absence of his father, Ellinipsico, 
his son, went m pursuit, and traced him to the fort, where they 
had an affectionate meeting. Unfortunately, the day after the 
arrival of the young warrior at Point Pleasant, two white men 
having crossed the Kanhawa on a hunting expedition, were 
fired upon by some straggling Indians, and one of them, whose 
name was Gilmore, was killed. The other escaped. No sooner 
was the event of Gilmore's death known, than the cry of re- 
venge was raised, and a party of ruffians assembled, under the 
command of a Captain Hall — not to pursue and punish the 
perpetrators of the murder — but to fall upon the friendly and 
peaceable Indians in the fort. Arming themselves, and cocking 
their rifles, they proceeded directly to the little garrison, menac- 
ing death to any or all who should oppose their nefarious de- 
signs. Some friend of the hostage-chiefs attempted to apprise 
them in advance of the approaching danger ; but the savage 
mob were probably too close upon the heels of the messenger 
to allow of their escape. At the sound of the clamor without, 
Ellinipsico is said to have been somewhat agitated. Not so the 
veteran Cornstock. He had too often grappled with death on 
the war-path to fear his approaches now. Perceiving the emo- 
tion of his son, he calmly observed : — " Mi/ son, the Great 
" Spirit has seen Jit that we should die together, and has sent 
" ijoii to that end. It is his will, and let us submit^ The 
infuriated mob had now gained the apartment of the victims ; 
Cornstock fell, perforated with seven bullets, and died without 
after the exhortation of his father, met 



1777.] MURDER OF CORNSTOCK. l93 

his fate with composure, and was shot on the seat upon which 
he was sitting. Red-hawk, the young Delaware, died with 
less fortitude. He hid himself away, but was discovered and 
slain. Another friendly Indian, in the fort at the time, was 
likewise killed, and his body mangled by the barbarians in a 
manner that would have disgraced savages of any other com- 
plexion. "Thus," says an Indian Chronicler,* "perished the 
" mighty Cornstock, sachem of the Shawanese, and king ot 
" the Northern confederacy, in 1774— a chief remarkable for 
" many great and good qualities. He was disposed to be at all 
" times the friend of white men, as he was ever the advocate 
'• of honorable peace. But when his country's wrongs sura- 
" moned him to the battle, he became the thunderbolt of war, 
" and made his enemies feel the weight of his arm. His noble 
" bearing,, his generous and disinterested attachment to the 
" Colonies, his anxiety to preserve the frontier of Virginia from 
" desolation and death, all conspired to win for him the esteem 
" and respect of others ; while the untimely and perfidious man- 
" ner of his death caused a deep and lasting feeling of regret 
" to pervade the bosoms, even of those who were enemies to 
" his nation, and excited the just indignation of all toward his 
" inhuman murderers." 

It argues a sad deficiency of military discipline, that such a 
foul transaction could have occurred at any regularly establish- 
ed post. The command of Arbuckle, however, must have 
been small, inasmuch as he was not only opposed to the com- 
mission of the outrage, but sallied forth, in company with ano- 
other captain, named Stuart, for the purpose of intercepting the 
ruffians, and preventing the execution of their purpose. But 
all remonstrance was vain. The enraged assailants, pale, and 
quivering with fury, presented their rifles to the breasts of those 
officers, threatening them with instant death if they stood in 
their way. It has been said that Cornstock felt a presentiment 
of his death on the morning of its occurrence. A council had 
been summoned for the consideration of some business of im- 
portance, connected, probably, with Indian aflairs, since the old 
chief bore a part in the deliberations. In the course of one of 
his speeches delivered on that occasion, he said, with emphasis 

♦ Witliers's Indian Chronicles, as quoted by Drake, 



194 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

to the council : — " When I was young, every time I loent to 
" war, I thought it likely that I might return no more ; but 
" I still lived ; I am noio in your hands ; you Tnay kill me if 
'■'■you choose. I can die but once, and it is alike to Tne iche- 
" ther I die no)o or at another time.''''* 

The Indian biography of our country suppHes but few addi- 
tional facts concerning the life of this brave and just man. He 
had a son, known among the whites as The Wolf, whose name 
was somewhat conspicuously associated with the earlier events 
of the Revolution. The Wolf, with three others, was a hostage 
at Williamsburgh, Virginia, at the time of Lord Dunmore's em- 
barkation on board of the British fleet. After the escape of his 
Lordship, he solicited and obtained an interview with The 
Wolf and his associates on board of his ship ; during which he 
explained to them the causes of his flight, and urged them to 
flee also, as the only means of escaping the fury of the revolu- 
tionists. Adopting this counsel, they took to the woods on re- 
turning to the shore. The night following came on excessive- 
ly dark. One of The Wolf's companions separated from his 
fellows, and was lost. The others soon afterward returned to 
Williamsburgh, where they were well received by the inhabit- 
tants. What farther befel The Wolf, or the house of Cornstock, 
is not known. 

♦ Doddridge's Indian Wars, pp. 238—240. 



CHAPTER IX. 



British preparations for the prosecution of the war — Indications at the North — Doubt- 
ful position and conduct of General Howe — Embarrassing to the Americans — In- 
tercepted correspondence — General Howe sails to the Chesapeake — Enters Phila- 
delphia in triumph — Burgoyne approaches from the North — Indian policy — Sir 
Guy Carleton — False estimates of the strength of Ticonderoga — Burgoyne arrives 
at Crown Point — Feasts the Indians — Invests Ticonderoga — Carries the out- 
works — Fortifies Sugar Hill — The fortress evacuated by St. Clair — Retreat of the 
Americans — Battles near Skenesborough and at Fort Ann — Burgoyne enters the 
valley of the Hudson — Schuyler, without means, retreats from Fort Edward — 
Terror of the people — Cruelties of the Indians— Story of Miss M'Crea— General 
flight of the population— Mrs. Ann Eliza Bleecker — Heroism of Mrs. Schuyler — 
Attempted assassination of General Schuyler. 

Having failed in their efforts to extinguish the rebellion dur- 
ing the preceding year, the government of the parent country- 
resolved to put forth still greater energies during the present. 
For this purpose a powerful force was organized in Canada, 
the command of which was transferred from Sir Guy Carle- 
ton — the ablest British General, by the way, at that time or 
subsequently in America — and conferred upon General Bur- 
goyne— an officer, also, of unquestioned merit — whose spirit of 
enterprise and thirst for military glory could not be exceeded. 
It was the aim of this Northern army to open a communication 
between Canada and New- York — thus cutting off New-Eng- 
land, which the ministry justly considered the hot-bed of the 
Revolution, from all communication with the Middle States ; 
while Sir William Howe, with an army of 16,000 men, was to 
withdraw from New Jersey, and move round simultaneously 
to the Chesapeake, and take possession of the Middle States ; 
and thus, as it was hoped, compel the whole to return to their 
allegiance. 

Doubts, however, for several months hung over the intentions 
of the enemy, whose designs were so skilfully veiled as for a 
long time almost to paralyze the exertions of the Americans. 
The retreat of Carleton from Lake Champlain, the preceding 
Autumn, even after the lake was in his power and Crown 
Point in his possession, suggested a doubt whether a serious 
invasion was meditated from that quarter. On the contrary, 
the impression was general that the expedition of Burgoyne 
was destined against Boston ; and that Sir William Howe, whose 



196 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

movements in New Jersey were enigmatical to perplexity, was 
to co-operate in an effort to re-subjngate New England. The 
British government itself, as it is believed, contributed to the 
distractions of Congress and the American commander, by 
causing reports to be circulated that Boston was to be the next 
point of attack. Arthur Lee, being then in Bordeaux, was 
thus confidentially advised, and he lost no time in communi- 
cating such supposed intention to the Secret Committee of 
Congress, who in turn gave the like information to the Com- 
mander-in-chief, and also to the Legislature of Massachusetts. 
The consequence of these distractions was unfortunate for 
the Americans. Less attention was paid to preparations for 
the defence of tlie North than otherwise would have been given ; 
while Massachusetts, apprehending that all her strength would 
be required for her own defence, set about raising troops for 
her own protection, at the expense of the main army, from 
which its quota of recruits was withheld.* 

Before the close of June, however, the designs of the enemy 
in regard to the North became obvious. A person from Cana- 
da, arrested as a spy, and brought before General Schuyler, 
stated on his examination, " that the British forces were ap- 
" proaching St. Johns, and v/ere to advance through Lake 
" Champlain under General Burgoyne ; and also that adetach- 
" ment of British troops, Canadians and Indians, was to pene- 
" trate the country by the way of Oswego and the Valley of the 
" Mohawk. He added many particulars, respecting the strength 
" and arrangements of the British army, which turned out in 
" the end to be nearly accurate, but of which no intelligence 
" had before been obtained, or by many anticipated." t 

The movements of General Howe were still equivocal, even 
after Burgoyne had commenced his descent upon the North — 
thus adding to the embarrassments of Washington. And in 
order the more certainly to mislead the American commander 
as to his real intentions. General Howe wrote a feigned des- 
patch to Burgoyne, on the subject of ascending the Hudson to 
join him, the bearer of which fell purposely into the hands of 
the Americans, while pretending to be on his way to Canada. 
Unable, therefore, to determine whether such might not be his 

• Letters of "Washington, daring; the months of M:\y, June, and July, 1777. 
f Sparks— Note ia Life and Cor. of Waaliiagton, vol. iv. 



1777.] MANCEUVRES OF GENERAL HOWE. 197 

design, (although the intercepted despatch was regarded with 
strong suspicion,) or whether, on the other hand, it might not 
be the purpose of Howe to pass round to the Chesapeake and 
thence strike at Philadelphia, the American General was com- 
pelled to remain inactively watching his motions, strengthening, 
in the mean time, to the utmost of his power, his positions in 
the highlands — without being able to detach any large number 
of troops to the assistance of General Schuyler, then command- 
ing the Northern Department. And even after General Howe 
had embarked his troops and dropped down to Sandy Hook — 
having evacuated New Jersey on the 30th of June* — Washing- 
ton was still in doubt whether it might not yet be his intention 
to return with the tide, and pass up the river in the night.f 
Such, however, was no part of the plan of the British com- 
mander. His destination, on leaving the harbor of New- York, 
was the Chesapeake and Philadelphia ; and the latter branch 
of the campaign indicated in the opening of the present chapter, 
was so far successful, that after a series of victories over the 
forces of General Washington, commencing at Brandywine 
and ending at Germantown, General Howe took possession of, 
and established himself in, the capital of Pennsylvania. 

* It is a pleasing evidence of the sound religious views of Washington, that he 
was a firm believer in the immediate interpositions of Providence in directing and 
controlling the affairs of men. His letters abound in passages that might be cited, 
showing his quickness to discern the finger of Providence, and his readiness to mako 
the acknowledgment. Thus, in regard to the departure from New Jersey by Gene- 
ral Howe, he says : — " The evacuation of Jersey at this time seems to be a peculiar 
mark of Providence, as the inhabitants have an opportunity of securing their har- 
vests of hay and grain, the latter of which would in all probability have imdergone 
the same fate with many farm-houses, had it been ripe enough to take fire." — Letter 
of Washington to J\laj. Gen. Armstrong, July 4, 1777. 

t "If we were certain Gen. Burgoyne were approaching Ticonderoga with hi? 
whole army, I should not hesitate a moment in concluding that it is in consequence 
of a preconcerted plan with Gen. Howe, and that the latter is to co-operate with him 
by pushing his whole force up the North River, and aiming a stroke in the first in- 
stance and immediately at the Highlands." — Letter of Washington to the President of 
Congress, July 2. Again, in several successive letters, after the embarkation of 
General Howe's army from Staten Island, Washington spoke of the perplexity in 
which he was kept by the shifting manoeuvres of the fleet. On the 22d of July he 
wrote — "I cannot give you any certain account of General Howe's operations. His 
conduct is puzzlingand embarrassing beyond measure ; so are the informations which 
I get. At one time the ships are standing up toward the North River ; in a little 
while they are going up the Sound ; and in one hour after, they are going out of the 
Hook." — Letter to General Sckvyler. The fleet actually sailed for the Capes of Vir- 
ginia on the 23d of July. 



198 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

But a far different fortune attended the arms of Bura^oyne. 
The regular troops of his command, English and German, 
amounted to above seven thousand men, added to which were 
large numbers of American and Canadian loyahsts, together 
with many hundred Indians ; a species of force, which, it has 
been held by British historians. Sir Guy Carleton was reluctant 
to employ, while General Burgoyne, it has been alleged, enter- 
tained no such scruples. It has ever been claimed as a virtue 
on the part of Carleton, and carried to the credit of his hu- 
manity, that, rather than employ the Indians, he submitted to 
the injustice of having the command of this expedition, pro- 
perly belonging to him, conferred upon an officer who was not 
entitled to lead the enterprise. It is perhaps true, from his 
more intimate knowledge of the Indian character, that he had 
formed such an estimate of their services as to render him 
somewhat less sanguine than others as to their value. His ex- 
perience could not but have taught him the extent of their 
inutility in war, the capriciousness of their character, their in- 
tractableness and inconstancy. He must have known that 
their ideas of war were totally different from those of civilized 
nations ; by reason of which, notwithstanding their ferocity, 
and the incredible examples of passive valor which they some- 
times afford in cases adapted to their own opinions, they were 
nevertheless utterly regardless of, and looked with contempt 
upon, those belligerent usages which are considered as honora- 
ble, generous, and fair in the modern service of civilized men. 
He could not have been ignorant of the fact, that the object 
and design of most of the wars in which the Indians engage, 
are not so much to conquer by manly and open battle, as to 
murder and destroy after their own peculiar fashion. In one 
word, that accomplished officer very well knew the services of 
the Indians to be uncertain ; their rapacity to be insatiable ; 
their faith at all times doubtful ; and their action cruel to bar- 
barity. Still, as we have already shown beyond contradiction, 
he was among the first to court the alliance and obtain the ser- 
vices of Brant and his Mohawks, on their descent to Montreal 
in 1775. The commendations, therefore, that have been be- 
stowed upon Sir Guy Carleton upon this subject, at the expense 
of Burgoyne, were as undeserved by the one as unjust toward 
the other. True, the march of Burgoyne was tracked with 



1777.] CARLETON AND BURGOYNE. 199 

blood, which a high-souled officer should scorn in such man- 
ner to shed ;* but the footsteps of Carleton might have been 
equally sanguine had the command been entrusted to him. 

Never, probably, at the time, had there been an army of 
equal numbers better appointed than that of Burgoyne. The 
train of brass artillery, in particular, was perhaps the finest that 
had ever been allotted to an army not far exceeding the present 
in numerical strength, and for a time victory seemed to perch 
upon his ensigns. 

General Carleton, it will be remembered, had made himself 
master of Lake Champlain, and the fortifications at Crown 
Point the Autumn before. The first object for attack present- 
ing itself to General Burgoyne, therefore, was Ticonderoga — 
situated in the mountain gap through which the waters of 
Lake George fall into Lake Champlain. This fortress was 
then in command of General St. Clair, and was supposed by 
the Americans to be a post of great security. The principal 
fortress, the ruins of which are yet standing in frowning and 
rugged strength, was situated on an angle of land which is sur- 
rounded on three sides by water filled with rocks. A great part 
of the south side was covered by a deep morass ; and where 
that failed, in the north-west quarter, the old French lines 
served as a defence. These lines had been strengthened by 
additional works and a block-house. The Americans had 
other defences and block-houses in the direction of Lake George, 
together with two new block-houses and some other works to 
the right of the French lines. Still greater pains had been 
taken in fortifying the high circular hill on the eastern shore 
of the inlet opposite, known as Mount Independence. On the 
summit of this mountain, which is table-land, the Americans 
had erected a star-fort, enclosing a large square of barracks, 
well fortified, and supplied with artillery. The foot of the 
mountain, on the west side projecting into the water, was 
strongly entrenched to its edge, and the entrenchment lined 

* It is but just to this gallant but unfortunate officer, however, to state, that he 
did all in his power to restrain the excesses and barbarities of the Indians. At the 
council and war-feast, which he gave them near Crown Point, he endeavored to ex- 
plain to them the laws of civilized war ; and charged them that they mu.«t only kill 
those opposing them in arms ; that old men, women, children, and prisoners, must 
be held sacred from the knife or hatchet, even in the heat of battle. But it did no 

"^ 30 



200 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

with heavy artillery. These lower works were sustained and 
covered by a battery, about half-way up the side of the moun- 
tain, and were connected by a bridge across the inlet, which had 
been constructed at great labor and expense.* These, and 
other works of defence, had been judged sufficient to render 
the post secure. The Commander-in-chief himself, although 
indeed tiie works had not fallen under his own inspection, had 
formed a very erroneous opinion of their strength, or perhaps, 
to speak more correctly, of the natural advantages of the posi- 
tion, and of the defensibility of the works.f Such, in fact, was 
his coniideace in the post, that the idea of its loss seems from 
his correspondence scarce to have entered his mind. 

But in all their labors, the American engineers had overlooked 
the high peak, or mountain, called Sugar Hill, situated south 
of the bridge, on the point of land at the confluence of the 
waters of Lakes George and Champlain. Originally it had 
been supposed, and taken for granted, that the crest of Sugar 
Hill was not only inaccessible, but too distant to be of any 
avail in covering the main fortress. This opinion was an er- 
ror, to which the attention of the officers had been called the 
preceding year by Colonel John Trumbull, then Adjutant- 
General for the Northern Department. When Colonel Trum- 
bull made the suggestion, he was laughed at by the mess ; but 
he soon proved the greater accuracy of his own vision, by 
throwing a cannon shot to the summit ; and subsequently 
clambered up to the top, accompanied by Colonels Wayne and 
Arnold. t It was a criminal neglect, on the part of the Ameri- 
cans, that the oversight was not at once corrected, by the con- 
struction of a work upon that point, which would have com- 
manded the whole post. 

♦ London Universal Magaane, April, 1782. 

I " I am pleased to find, by your letter to Congress, that a strong supply of pro- 
visions has been thrown into Ticonderoga. Since that is the case, I see no reason 
for apprehending that it can possibly fall into the hands of the enemy in a short time, 
even were they to bring their whole force to a point ; but if they have divided it to 
make the different attacks that you mention, General St. Clair will, in all probability, 
have an opportunity of acting on the defensive ; and should he not be quite success- 
ful, he may damage them so considerably, that they will not be able to attack him in 
his works ; to whicli, I dare say, he will always secure a retreat in case of accident." — 
Letter of Washington to General Schuyler, July 2, 1777. 

t Conversations of tPie author with Colonel John Trumbull, and also Ids unpub- 
lished memoirs, to which tlie autlior has had access. 



1777.] WORKS AT TICONDEROGA. 201 

General Burgoyne arrived at Crown Point on the 21st of 
June ; and after meeting and feasting the Indians, and attempt- 
ing to instruct them in the rules and principles of civilized war, 
and making other necessary preparations — not forgetting to send 
forth a manifesto which he supposed would spread terror 
through the Northern Colonies — he advanced with great cau- 
tion to the investment of Ticonderoga, where he arrived on tlie 
2d of July. Most unaccountably, the Americans immediately 
abandoned all their works in the direction of Lake George — set- 
ting fire to the block-houses and saw-mills ; and v/ithout sally 
or other interruption, permitted the enemy, under Major Gene- 
ral Phillips, to take possession of the very advantageous post 
of Mount Hope, which, besides commanding their lines in a 
dangerous degree, totally cut off their communication with 
Lake George. The only excuse for such an early abandon- 
ment of this important point, was found in the fact that General 
St, Clair had not force enough to man all his defences. 

One of the first objects that attracted the attention of the 
British commander, was the unoccupied point of Sugar Hill. It 
was forthwith examined, and its advantages were found to be so 
great, that immediate dispositions were made for its occupation. 
A winding road was cut to its summit, a battery commenced, 
and cannon to serve it transported thither. Under these cir- 
cumstances, finding himself invested on all sides, and batteries 
ready to be opened upon him not only from around, but above, 
and having, moreover, not half troops enough to man hisworks — 
St. Clair hastily convened a council of war on the 5th of July, 
and an evacuation was unanimously decided upon as the only 
alternative for the emergency.* 

* "The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence is an event of 
chagrin and surprise, not appreiiended nor within the compass of mj' reasoning. I 
know not upon what principle it was founded, and I should suppose it still more 
difficult to be accounted for, if the garrison amounted to five thousand men, in high 
spirits, healthy, well supplied with provisions and ammunition, and the Eastern mi- 
litia marching to their succor, as you mentioned in your letter of the 9th to the 
Council of Safety of 'New-York."— Letter of Washington to General Sclmyler, July 
15, 1777. The truth, however, is, that the actual force and condition of St. Clair's 
army had been universally over-estimated — as well by the officers at a distance as 
by the public. The eyes of the nation were turned upon that post ; and when the 
news of the retreat went abroad, the disappointment was extreme ; and the loud 
voice of complaint and censure, against the unfortunate General, was reiterated from 
one end of the continent to the other. But, notwithstanding the "chagrin" and 



202 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

Following up such a promising advantage, the British com- 
mander puslied forward upon the retiring army, with such a 
degree of vigor that the retreat became almost a rout. The 
Americans, however, made a stand between Skenesborough and 
Fort Anne in a well-contested battle ; but after much hard 
fighting, were again compelled to retreat. Another engagement 
ensued at Fort Anne, with a like result ; and the victorious 
Briton entered the valley of the Hudson, and took possession of 
Fort Edward, which, weak and unprovided, had likewise been 
evacuated on his approach by General Schuyler, 

These movements by the British commander had been made 
with equal vigor and celerity ; and such was the confusion of 
the Americans in their flight, that no advices of the disaster 
were forwarded by express to General Schuyler, to pre})are him 
for the approach of the victors. Indeed, that oflicer was suf- 
fered to remain several days without intelligence from St. Clair 
of any description, excepting some vague flying rumors of the 
evacuation.* During this suspense, General Schuyler wrote to 
the Commander-in-chief upon the subject, who, in turn, ex- 
pressed his amazement at the mystery which seemed to hang 
over the affairs of the fortress. At one moment Washington 
was led to believe that St. Clair and the whole garrison had 
been made prisoners, and at another that the rumor of the 
evacuation was wholly untrue ; and that the silence, for which 
it baffled conjecture to account, arose from the circumstance 
that the Americans were shut up in their works. t But this 
doubt did not continue long. Notwithstandins^ that the advance 
of the enemy was repulsed at Fort Anne, Colonel liOng, who 
was in command of that post, immediately evacuated it, con- 
trary to the express orders of General Schuyler ; and Schuyler 

"surprise," so keenly fdt by the Commander-in-cliicf at the loss of tiiis important 
post, his strong sense of justice interposed to shield the unfortunate commander 
from condemnation unheard. He wrote to General Schuyler on the 13th of Julj-, 
that General St. Clair owed it to himself to insist upon an opportunity of giving liis 
reasons for evacuating Ticonderoga, but he at the same time said — "I will not con- 
demn, or even pass censure upon, an officer unheard." Time, however, proved that 
he had acted the part of a judicious and skilful officer ; but the excitement of the 
moment was so great, caused by chagrin on the one hand and alarm on tlie other, 
that all eyes were blind, and all ears deaf, to the true reasons of the case, and even to 
tlie palliating circumstances." — Sparks's Life of Gonverneur Morris. 

* Letter from General Schuyler to General Washmgton, July 9, 1777. 

t Letter from General Washington in rcplj-. 



1777.] VICTORIOUS ADVANCE OF BURGOYNE. 203 

himself, at the head of only fifteen hundred men at Fort Ed- 
ward, " without provision, with httle ammunition, not above 
" five rounds to a man, having neither balls, nor lead to make 
"any—and the country in the deepest consternation,"* was 
obliged also to fall back in the direction of Albany. The blow 
was a severe one ; but the Commander-in-chief possessed a 
soul equal to every crisis. No undue elevation of spirit fol- 
lowed his successes ; neither did the clouds of adverse fortune, 
so frequently darkening the prospect of the American arms,' 
sink him into despondency.! Indeed, each succeeding calami- 
ty was but another test of his moral greatness, for he rose above 
them all. 

Nothing, however, could exceed the terror which these 
events ditfused among the inhabitants, not only of Northern 
New- York, but of the New England States. The consterna- 
tion was, moreover, increased by the reported murders and the 
crueltiesof the savages— since all the efforts of General Burgoyne 
to dissuade them from the perpetration of their cruel enormities 
were ineffectual. Restrain them he could not ; and it was ad- 
mitted by the British writers of that day, that the friends of the 
Royal cause, as well as its enemies, were equally victims to 
their indiscriminate rage. It was even ascertained that the 
British officers were deceived by their treacherous allies, into 
the purchase of the scalps of their own comrades. 

Among other instances of cruelty, the well-known murder ot 
Miss Jane M-Crea, which happened in the early part of the 
campaign, filled the public mind with horror. Every circum 
stance of this unnatural and bloody transaction— around which 
there lingers a melancholy interest to this day— served to 
heighten alike its interest and its enormity. Many have been 
the versions of this bloody tale. General Gates, who had 
at this juncture been most unjustly directed to supersede Gene- 

* Letter of Schuyler to Washington. 

t "This stroke is severe indeed, and has distressed us much. But, notwithstand- 
ing things at present have a darii and gloomy aspect, I hope a spirited opposition 
will check the progress of General Burgoyne's army, and that the confidence de- 
rived from his success, will hurry him into measures that will, in their consequences, 
be favorable to us. We should never despair. Our situation has before been un- 
promising, and has changed for the better ; so, I trust, it will again. If new diffi- 
culties arise, we must only put forth new exertions, and proportion our efforts to the 
exigency of tlie times."— I,e«cr of Washinslon to General Schuyler, July 15, 1777. 



204 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

ral Schuyler in the command of the Northern Department, 
assailed General Bnrgoyne in the newspapers with great viru- 
lence upon the subject of these outrages. After charging the 
British commander with encouraging the murder of prisoners, 
and the massacre of women and children, by paying the In- 
dians a stipulated price for scalps, Gates, in a letter addressed 
to General Burgoyne, thus spoke of the case now specially un- 
der consideration : — " Miss M'Crea, a young lady, lovely to the 
" sight, of virtuous character and amiable disposition, engaged 
" to an officer of your army, was, with other women and chil- 
" dren, taken out of a house near Fort Edward, carried into the 
" woods, and there scalped and mangled in the most horrid 
" manner. Two parents, with their six children, were treated 
" with the same inhumanity, while quietly resting in their own 
" happy and peaceful dwelling. The miserable fate of Miss 
" M'Crea was particularly aggravated, by being dressed to re- 
" ceive her promised husband ; but met her murderer, employed 
" by you. Upward of one hundred men, women, and children, 
" have perished by the hands of the ruffians to whom, it is as- 
" serted, you have paid the price of blood." 

General Burgoyne replied, and repelled with indignation the 
charge of encouraging, in any respect, the outrages of the In 
dians. He asserted that from the first he had refused to pay 
for scalps, and had so informed the Indians at their council. 
The only rewards he gave them were for prisoners brought in, 
and by the adoption of this course he hoped to encourage a 
more humane mode of warfare on their part. In this letter 
Burgoyne said : — " I would not be conscious of the acts you 
" presume to impute to me, for the whole continent of America, 
" though the wealth of worlds was in its bowels and a paradise 
" upon its surface."* In regard to the hapless fate of Miss 
M'Crea, General Burgoyne remarked : — " Her fall wanted not 
" the tragic display you have labored to give it, to make it as 
" sincerely abhorred and lamented by me as it can be by the 

♦ While these pages are passing through the press, the author has fallen upon a 
letter written from Montreal, and published in the Remembrancer for 1777, in which 
it was stated that a party of the Indians had returned to Montreal in a high state of 
dissatisfaction, because of the severity of Burgoyne's discipline toward them, and 
his refusal to tolerate their mode of warfare, or pay them their accustomed bounty 
for scalps. It was further stated that they waited upon Sir Guy Carleton with their 
complaints— liking their old " Father '' much better than their new. 



1777.] STORY OP MISS m'crea. 205 

" tenderest of her friends. The act was no premeditated bar- 
'•' barity. On the contrary, two chiefs, who had brought her off 
" for the purpose of security, not of violence to her person, 
" disputed which should be her guard, and in a fit of savage 
" passion in one, from whose hands she was snatched, the un- 
" happy woman became the victim. Upon the first intelligence 
" of this event, I obliged the Indians to deliver the murderer 
" into my hands ; and though to have punished him by our 
" laws, or principles of justice, would have been perhaps un- 
" precedented, he certainly should have suffered an ignominious 
" death, had I not been convinced, from my circumstances and 
" observations, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that a pardon 
" under the terms which I presented and they accepted, would 
" be more efficacious than an execution, to prevent similar 
" mischiefs. The above instance excepted, your intelligence 
" respecting the cruelty of the Indians, is false."* 

The British commander doubtless labored to make the best 
of his case, and in respect to Miss M'Crea, his statement was 
much nearer to the truth than that of General Gates. The 
actual circumstances of the case, stripped of its romance, were 
these : — Miss M'Crea belonged to a family of loyalists, and had 
engaged her hand in marriage to a young refugee named 
Jones, a subordinate officer in the British service, who was ad- 
vancing with Burgoyne. Anxious to possess himself of his 
bride, he despatched a small party of Indians to bring her to 
the British camp. Her family and friends were strongly op- 
posed to her going with such an escort ; but her affection over- 
came her prudence, and she determined upon the hazardous 
adventure. She set forward with her dusky attendants on 
horseback. The family resided at the village of Fort Edward, 
from whence they had not proceeded more than half a mile 
before her conductors stopped to drink at a spring. Meantime 
the impatient lover, who deserved not her embrace for confiding 
her protection to such hands, instead of going himself, had des- 
patched a second party of Indians upon the same errand. The 
Indians met at the spring ; and before the march was resumed, 
they were attacked by a party of the Provincials. At the close 
of the skirmish the body of Miss M-Crea was found among the 
slain — tomahawked, scalped, and tied to a pine tree, yet stand- 

♦ Vide Marshall's Life of Washington, Vol. I, Appendix. 



206 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

ing by the side of the spring, as a monument of the bloody trans- 
action. The name of the young lady is inscribed on the tree, 
the trunk of which is thickly scarred with the bullets it received 
in the skirmish. It also bears the date 1777. " Tradition re- 
'• ports that the Indians divided the scalp, and that each party 
" carried half of it to the agonized lover."* The ascertained 
cause of her murder was this. The promised reward for bring- 
ing her in safety to her betrothed, was a barrel of rum. The 
chiefs of the two parties sent for her by Mr. Jones, quarrelled 
respecting the anticipated compensation. Each claimed it ; 
and, in a moment of passion, to end the controversy, one of them 
struck her down with his hatchet. 

The tale was sufficiently painful according to the simple 
facts of the case, and its recital produced a thrill of horror 
wherever it came — enlarged and embellished, as it was sure to 
be in its progress, by every writer who could add to the elo- 
quence of the narrative or the pathos of its catastrophe. 

As the invader advanced, the inhabitants fled in the wildest 
consternation. The horrors of war, however mitigated by the 
laws and usages of civilization, are at all times sufficiently 
terrific ; but when to these the fie'rce cruelties of a cloud of 
savages are superadded, those only who have been familiar with 
an American border warfare can form an adequate opinion 
of its atrocities. Among the fugitives driven from their 
peaceful abodes on the present occasion, was Mrs. Ann Eliza 
Bleecker, a lady who has been somewhat celebrated as one 
of the early poets of our country. She was the daughter of 
Mr. Brandt Schuyler of the city of New- York, and the wife 
of John J. Bleecker, Esq., of New Rochelle, whose enterprise, 
together with his lady's love for the wild scenery of the forest, 
had induced him to exchange a residence among the busy 
haunts of men for a solitary plantation in the vale of the Tom- 
hanic — a mountain stream flowing into the Hoosic river, about 
twenty miles from Albany. Mr. Bleecker's residence lay di- 
rectly in the march of Burgoyne, on whose approach he 
hastened to Albany to provide accommodations for his family. 
But a few hours after his departure, Mrs. Bleecker, as she sat at 



• Silliman's Tour from Hartford to duebec. Vide, also, Marsli#ll, Gordon, and 
others. 



1777.] MRS. BLEECKER~MRS. SCHUYLER, 207 

table received intelligence that the enemy, with tomahawk and 
brand, was within two miles of her residence. Instant fho-ht 
was the only alternati^^e. Taking one of her children in her 
arms and seizing the other by the hand, she started off on foot 
attended only by a young mulatto girl, and leaving her house 
and all its contents a prey to the Indians. The roads were en- 
cumbered by carriages, loaded with women and children, each 
intent upon his or her own safety ; so that no assistance could be 
obtained, and her only recourse was to mingle in the fugitive 
hrong, and participate in the common panic and common dis- 
tress. Having travelled about five miles on foot, however, she 
sncceeded in obtaining a seat for the children in a wao-o-on 
which served to facilitate her march. On the following 
morning she was met by her husband, who conducted her to 
Albany, and from thence down the Hudson as far as Red Hook 
one of her children dying by the way.* ' 

Amid this scene of desolation and affright, there wa. yet 
one woman whose proud spirit was undaunted. It was the 
lady of General Schuyler. The General's country-seat was 
upon his estate in Saratoga, standing upon the margin of the 
river. On the approach of Burgoyne, Mrs. Schuyler went up 
to Saratoga, in order to remove their furniture. Her carriao-e 
was attended by only a single armed man on horseback. Whtn 
within t^vo miles of her house, she encountered a crowd of 
panic-stricken people, who recited to her the tragic fate of Miss 
MCrea, and represeming to her the danger of proceeding 
farther m the face of the enemy, urged her to return She ha! 
yet to pass through a dense forest, within which even then 
some of the savage troops might be lurking for prey. But to 
these prudential councils she would not listen. " The Gene 
ral s wife,'' she exclaimed, « must not be afraid !" And pushins" 
forward, she accomplished her purpose t ^ 

Before the mansion was evacuated, however, the General 

t I have derived this incident, and also that respecting the General which fol 

r;:/:?^:i-" ------ °' °™- »- "" - -"-; 

31 



208 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

himself had a narrow escape from assassination by the hand of 
a savage, who had insinuated himself into the house for that 
purpose. It was at the hour of bed-time, in the evening, and 
while the General was preparing to retire for the night, that a 
female servant, in coming in from the hall, saw a gleam of light 
reflected from the blade of a knife, in the hand of some person 
whose dark outline she discerned behind the door. The ser- 
vant was a black slave, who had sufficient presence of mind 
not to appear to have made the discovery. Passing directly 
through the door into the apartment where the General was 
yet standing near the fire-place, with an air of unconcern she 
pretended to arrange such articles as were disposed upon the 
mantel-piece, while in an-undertone she informed her master of 
her discovery, and said, aloud, " I will call the guard." The 
General instantly seized his arms, while the faithful servant hur- 
ried out by another door into a long hall, upon the floor of which 
lay a loose board which creaked beneath the tread. By the noise 
she made in trampling rapidly upon the board, the Indian — for 
such he proved — was led to suppose that the Philistines were 
upon him in numbers, sprang from his concealment and fled. 
He was pursued, however, by the guard and a few friendly In- 
dians attached to the person of General Schuyler, overtaken, and 
made prisoner. Exasperated at his treachery, the friendly In- 
dians were resolved to put him to death, and it was with much 
difficulty that they were diverted from their purpose by the Ge- 
neral. 

The effect of the incidents we have been detailing, and other 
recitals of savage cruelties, not all, as General Burgoyne re- 
presented, without foundation, was extensive and powerful. The 
cry of vengeance was universal ; and a spirit was aroused 
which proved of speedy and great advantage to the American 



CHAPTER X. 



Expedition against the Mohawk Valley from Oswego — Despondency of the people 
in Tryon County— Letter of John Jay— Arrest of several of the disaffected- 
Flight of others to Canada — Schuyler's complaints of the cowardice of the people 
—Great discouragements— Proclamation of General Herkimer— Letter from 
Thomas Spencer — St. Leger's approach — Caution and plan of his march — Diary 
of Lieut. Bird — Fort Stan wix invested — Colonel Gansevoort takes command — Its 
deplorable condition — Gansevoort joined by Willett — Story of Captain Gregg — 
Situation of the garrison — Arrival of St. Leger — His proclamation — Burgoyne's 
affairs becoming critical- Affair of Bennington — General Herkimer, with the 
Tryon County militia, advances to the relief of Gansevoort — Battle of Oriskany — 
Bloody upon both sides — Unexampled bravery of Captain Gardenier — Major 
Watts — Dissatisfaction of the Indians — Sortie and success of Colonel Willett — 
Death and character of General Herkimer. 

Contemporaneously with the descent of Burgoyne upon 
Northern New- York, Colonel Barry St. Leger had been des- 
patched from Montreal, by the way of the St. Lawrence and 
Lake Ontario, to Oswego, there to form a junction with the In- 
dians and loyalists under Sir John Johnson and Captain Brant. 
From Oswego, St. Leger was to penetrate by the way of Oneida 
Lake and Wood Creek to the Mohawk river, with a view of 
forming a jimction from that direction with Burgoyne, on his 
arrival in Albany. The alarm everywhere felt on the approach 
of Burgoyne from the North, was greatly increased in Tryon 
County, on receiving intelligence of the contemplated invasion 
by the Indians and loyalists from the West, The news of this 
movement was first brought to the inhabitants by an Oneida 
half-breed sachem named Thomas Spencer, who came there- 
with direct from Canada, whither he had gone as a secret 
emissary to obtain information. Spencer stated that he had 
been present at a council held at the Indian castle of Cassassen- 
ny, at which Colonel Claus presided.* According to Thomas's 
relation. Colonel Claus strongly urged the Indians to join in 
the expedition into the Mohawk Valley by the Western ap- 
proach ; boasting of the strength of the army under Burgoyne, 
which had gone against Ticonderoga, and the number of In- 
dians with them, and before whom he assured them Ticonde- 
roga would flill. " Yes," said Colonel Claus, " Ticonderoga is 

* Colonel Daniel Claus, a brother-in-law of Sir John Johnson, had either supersed- 
ed Guy Johnson as Indian Superintendent in Canada, or been appointed a Deputy. 



210 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

" mine. This is true : you may depend on it, and not one gun 
" shall be fired." Singularly enough, though improbable at 
the time, the prediction, as we have seen, was literally fulfilled. 
" The same," added the superintendent, " is true of Fort Schuy- 
" ler. I am sure that when I come before that fort, and the 
" commanding officer shall see me, he also will not fire a shot, 
" but will surrender the fort to me." The Oneida sachem 
farther informed the people that Sir John Johnson and Colonel 
Clans were then at Oswego with their families, with seven 
hundred Indians and four hundred regular troops. There 
were also six hundred Tories on one of the islands above Os- 
wegatchie preparing to join them ; and Colonel Butler was to 
arrive at Oswego on the 14th of July from Niagara, to hold a 
council with the Six Nations, to all of whom he would offer 
the hatchet to join them and strike the Americans.* Thomas 
thereupon concluded his communication in the following 
speech : — 

" Brothers : Now is your time to awake, and not to sleep 
longer ; or, on the contrary, it shall go with Fort Schuyler as 
it went already with Ticonderoga. 

" Brothers : I therefore desire you to be spirited, and to 
encourage one another to march on to the assistance of Fort 
Schuyler. Come up, and show yourselves as men, to defend 
and save your country before it is too late. Despatch your- 
selves to clear the brush about the fort, and send a party to cut 
trees in the Wood Creek to stop up the same. 

" Brothers : If you don't come soon, without delay, to as- 
sist this place, we cannot stay much longer on your side ; for 
if you leave this fort without succor, and the enemy shall get 
possession thereof, we shall suffer like you in your settlements, 
and shall be destroyed with you. We are suspicious that your 
enemies have engaged the Indians, and endeavor daily yet to 
strike and fight against you ; and General Schuyler refuses al- 
ways that we shall take up arms in the country's behalf. 

" Brothers : I can assure you, that as soon as Butler's 
speech at Oswego shall be over, they intend to march down the 
country inamediately to Albany. You may judge yourselves 



* Referring, doubtless, to the Grand Council, of which an account is given in 
chapter VIII. 



1777.] FALTERING IN TRYON COUNTY. 211 

that if you don't try to resist, we shall be obliged to join them 
or fly from our Castles, as we cannot hinder them alone. We, 
the good friends of the country, are of opinion, that if more 
force appears at Fort Schuyler, the enemy will not move from 
Oswego to invade these frontiers. You may depend on it we 
are willing to help you if you will do some efforts too." 

The counsel of the faithful Oneida was neither early enough, 
nor was it seconded with sufficient promptitude on the part of 
the inhabitants. Indeed, it must be confessed, that, as the storm 
of war rolled onward, gathering at once from different direc- 
tions, and threatening daily to break upon them with increas- 
ing fury, many of the yeomen who had hitherto borne them- 
selves nobly, began to falter. A spirit of disaffection had also 
been more widely diffused among the settlements than could 
have been supposed from the previous patriotic conduct of the 
people, while treason lurked in many places where least sus- 
pected. Upon this subject, and with special reference to the 
popular feeling and conduct in Tryon County, John Jay, then 
sitting in the State Convention at Kingston, addressed the fol- 
lowing letter to Gouverneur Morris, a member of the Council 
of Safety, who was at that time with General Schuyler in the 
North :— 

John Jay to Gouverneur Morris. 

" Kingston, July 2\st, 1 777. 
" Dear Morris, 
" The situation of Tryon County is both shameful and 
alarming. Such abject dejection and despondency, as mark 
the lettejs we have received from thence, disgrace human na- 
ture. God knows what to do with, or for them. Were they 
alone interested in their fote, I should be for leaving their cart 
in the slough till they would put their shoulders to the wheel. 
'^ Schuyler has his enemies here, and they use these things 
to his disadvantage. Suspicions of his having been privy to 
the evacuation of Ticonderoga spread wide ; and twenty little 
circumstances, which perhaps are false, are trumped up to give 
color to the conjecture.* We could wish that your letters might 

• Reference has already been made, in the text, to the injustice done toward Gene- 
ral Schuyler during this memorable year. There was probably no officer in the 
service, the Commander-in-cluef alone excepted, who was considered by the enemy 



212 



LTFf: OF BRANT. 



contain paragraphs for the public. We are silent because we 
have nothing to say ; and the people suspect the worst because 
we say nothing. Their curiosity must be constantly gratified, 
or they will be uneasy. Indeed, I do not wonder at their im- 
patience, the late Northern events having been such as to have 
occasioned alarm and suspicion. I have not leisure to add 
any thing more, than that I am, very sincerely, yours, &c. 

" John Jay." 

As early as the 10th of April, Colonel Robert Van Rensselaer 
wrote to a friend, that the Chairman of the County Committee 
had applied to him for the assistance of his militia, to quell an 
insurrection of the loyalists in Ballston ; but such was the con- 
dition of his own regiment, that he Avas obliged to decline the 
request. The spirit of disaffection had become so prevalent 
among his men, that numbers of them had taken the oath of 
secrecy a)id allegiance to Great Britain. However, he added 
that seventeen of the villains had been arrested by the vigilance 
of the officers, and were then in confinement ; and a hope was 
indulged of being able to detect the whole.* Early in the fol- 
lowing month the residue of the Roman Catiiolic Scotch set- 
tlers in the neighborhood of Johnstown ran off to Canada, to- 
gether with some of the loyalist Germans — all headed by two 
men named M'Donald, who had been permitted by General 
Schuyler to visit their families. The fact that the wives and 

so great an obstacle to the success of their arms. A narrow sectional prejudice ex- 
isted against him in New England. The failure of the Canadian campaign had 
been most wrongfully attributed to liim in 1776, and with equal injustice ihe fall 
of Ticonderoga was now charged to his remissness by his own countrymen. The 
enemy were not slow to avail themselves of these prejudices and groundless impu- 
tations, and through the agency of the Tories, the most artful and insidious means 
were employed to destroy the public confidence in his integrity and capacity. The 
flame of suspicion was fanned by them until it became general, and was openly 
avowed. Committees, towns, and districts, assembled, and passed resolves express- 
ing their distrust in him, and both Congress and the Provincial Legislature of New- 
York were addressed upon the subject. General Schuyler, than whom there was 
not a truer patriot, nor a more earnest or active in the public seivice, was well 
aware of these movements. To a Committee of the Provincial Congress, who had 
formally communicated the charges to him, he returned an answer worthy of a brave 
and magnanimous soldier. The character of this answer will be understood from 
this single sentence : — "We must bear with the caprice, jealousy, and envy of our 
misguided friends, and pity them." 

* MS. documents in tlie Department of State, Albany. 



1777.] FALTERING IN TRYON COUNTY. 213 

families of the absconding loyalists were holding communica- 
tion with them, and administering to their subsistence on the out- 
skirts of the settlements, had suggested their arrest, and removal 
to a place of safety, to the number of four hundred — a measure 
that was approved by General Herkimer and his officers.* 
Alarming reports of various descriptions were continually in 
circulation, and the inhabitants were harassed beyond mea- 
sure by the necessity of performing frequent tours of military 
duty — acting as scouts and reconnoitring parties ; and stand- 
ing, some of them, as sentinels around their fields, while others 
did the labor. No neighborhood felt secure, and all were ap- 
prehensive that the whole country would be ravaged by the 
Indians ; while parties of the disaffected were continually steal- 
ing away to augment the ranks of the enemy. Thus circum- 
stanced, and at the very moment when they were called upon to 
reinforce Fort Schuyler, the Committees both of Palatine and 
Schoharie, feeling that they were not strong enough even for 
self-defence, were calling upon the Council of Safety at Albany 
to send additional forces for their protection. Mr. Paris wrote 
repeatedly upon the subject. The Schoharie Committee, on the 
17th of July, wrote very frankly, that " the late advantages 
" gained by the enemy had such an effect, that many who had 
" been counted as friends of the State were drawing back. 
"Our situation," he added, "is deplorable— excepting those 
" who have sought protection from the enemy. We are en- 
" tirely open to the Indians and Tories, whom we expect every 
" hour to come upon us. Part of our militia are at Fort Ed- 
" ward ; and of the few that are here, many are unwilling to 
"take up arms to defend themselves, as they are unable to 
" stand against so many enemies. Therefore if your honors 
" do not grant us immediate relief to the amount of about five 
" hundred men, we must either fall a prey to the enemy, or take 
"protection also."t On the 18th of July, General Schuyler 
wrote to the Hon. Pierre Van Courtlandt, from Saratoga, and 
again on the 21st from Fort Edward, to the same effect. " I am 
" exceedingly chagrined," he says, " at the pusillanimous spirit 
" which prevails in the County of Tryon. I apprehend much 
" of it is to be attributed to the infidelity of the leading persons 

* MS. documents in the Department of State, Albany — Letter of Isaac Paris, 
t MS. correspondence of the Provincial Congress— Secretary's office, Albany. 



214 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

" of that quarter." " If I had one thousand regular troops, in ad- 
"dition to those now above and on the march, I should ven- 
" ture to keep only every third man of the militia, and would 
" send them down." " The substance of Colonel Harper's in- 
" formation had been transmitted about a month ao-o. In con- 
" sequence whereof, I sent Colonel Van Schaick into Tryon 
" County with as many troops as I could collect. After the 
" improper agreement made by General Herkimer,* these troops 
" were marched back ; but as soon as T was informed of the 
" march, I ordered them to remain in Tryon County, where 
" they are still, and I have sent up Colonel Wesson's regiment 
" to reinforce them. But if I may be allowed to judge of the 
" temper of General Herkimer and the Committee of Tryon 
" County, from their letters to me, nothing will satisfy them un- 
" less I march the whole army into that quarter. With defer- 
" ence to the better judgment of the Council of Safety, I cannot 
" by any means think it prudent to bring on an open rupture 
" with the savages at the present time. The inhabitants of 
" Tryon County are already too much inclined to lay down their 
" arms, and take whatever terms the enemy may please to af- 
" ford them. Half the militia from this (Tryon) County, 
" and the neighboring State of Massachusetts, we have been 
" under the necesity of dismissing ; but the whole should go." 
" I enclose you the proceedings of a council of General ofiicers, 
" held at this place on the 20th instant. You will perceive 
'•' that we have been driven to the necessity of allowing some 
" of the militia to return to their plantations. The remainder 
'' have promised to remain three weeks longer — that is to say, 
" unless they choose to return sooner, which will doubtless be 
" the case, and for which they have many reasons." t 

The complaints of General Schuyler were not without just 
foundation, as the reader has already seen. Indeed, both regu- 
lars and militia in Tryon County, seemed for the moment to 
have lost all the high qualities of soldiers or citizens. Of two 
hundred militiamen ordered to muster and join the garrison of 
Fort Schuyler, only a part obeyed ; while two companies of 
regular troops, receiving the like orders, entered upon the ser- 
vice with great reluctance, and not without urging various ex- 

* Probably referring to the interview between Herkimer and Brant at TTnadilla. 
t AiS. Cor. Council of Safety— Secretary's office, Albany. 



1777.] Herkimer's proclamation. 215 

cuses — complaining that service in scouting parties had unfitted 
them for garrison duty.* Under circumstances of such dis- 
couragement, it was a time of peculiar trial to the officers and 
Committees of Safety. Tryon County had early espoused the 
cause of freedom, and apparently with greater unanimity than 
any other county in the State ; and the extensive defection, or 
criminal apathy, which we have just been contemplating, was 
altogether unexpected. But a crisis was approaching, which 
necessity soon obliged them to meet. Accordingly, on the 17th 
of July, General Herkimer issued a patriotic proclamation to 
the inhabitants of the county, announcing the gathering of 
the enemy at Oswego, " Christians and Savages," to the num- 
ber of two thousand strong, with the intention of invading the 
frontier, and calling upon the people en masse, to be ready at a 
moment's warning to repair to the field, with arms and accou- 
trements, on the approach of the enemy. Those in health, from 
16 to 60 years of age. were designated for actual service ; while 
those above 60 years of age, or invalids, were directed to arm 
for the defence of the women and children at whatever place 
they might be gathered in for safety. Concerning the disaffected, 
and those who might refuse to obey the orders, it was directed 
in the proclamation that they should be arrested, their arms se- 
cured, and themselves placed under guard to join the main 
body. All the members of the Committee, and all those who, 
by reason of having formerly held commissions, had become ex- 
empts from service, were invited to repair to the rendezvous, 
and aid in repulsing the foe : " not doubting that the Almighty 
" Power, upon our humble prayers, and sincere trust in Him, 
" will then graciously succour our arms in battle for our just 
" cause, and victory cannot fail on our side." 

The Oneida Indians, who were sincerely disposed to favor 
the cause of the United States, but who, pursuant to the hu- 
mane policy of Congress and the advice of General Schuyler, 
had determined to preserve their neutrality, beheld the ap- 
proaching invasion from Oswego with no small degree of ap- 
prehension. The course they had marked out for themselves, 
as they were well aware, was viewed with displeasure by their 
Mohawk brethren, while the other members of their confedera- 

* Annals of Trj-on County, 

32 



216 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777, 

cy were obviously inclined to side with their " Uncle."* Liv- 
ing, moreover, in the immediate neighborhood of Fort Schuy- 
ler, where St. Leger's first blow must be struck, they were not 
a little troubled in the prospect of what might happen to them- 
selves. The watchful Thomas Spencer, therefore, despatched 
the following letter to the Committee on the 29th of July, 
which was received on the 30th : — 

" At a meeting of the chiefs, they tell me that there is but 
four days remaining of the time set for the king's troops to 
come to Fort Schuyler, and they think it likely they will be 
here sooner. 

" The chiefs desire the commanding officers at Fort Schuy- 
ler not to make a Ticonderoga of it ; but they hope you will be 
courageous. 

" They desire General Schuyler may have this with speed, 
and send a good army here ; there is nothing to do at New- 
York ; we think there is men to be spared — we expect the road 
is stopped to the inhabitants by a party through the woods ; 
we shall be surrounded as soon as they come. This may be 
our last advice, as these soldiers are part of those that are to 
hold a treaty. Send this to the Committee — as soon as they 
receive it, let the militia rise up and come to Fort Schuyler. 

" To-morrow we are a-going to the Three Rivers t to the 
treaty. We expect to meet the warriors, and when we come 
there and declare we are for peace, we expect to be used with 
indifference and sent away. 

" Let all the troops that come to Fort Schuyler take care on 
their march, as there is a party of Indians to stop the road be- 
low the fort, about 80 or 100. We hear they are to bring their 
cannon up Fish Creek. We hear there is 1000 going to meet 
the enemy. We advise not — the army is too large for so few 
men to defend the Fort — we send a belt of 8 rows to confirm the 
truth of what we say. 

" It looks likely to me the troops are near — hope all friends 
to liberty, and that love their families, will not be backward, 
but exert themselves ; as one resolute blow would secure the 

* In the Six Nations, the Mohawks— the head tribe— were called "Uncle." The 
Oneidas were " the elder brother," &c. 

t The junction of the Oneida, Seneca, and Oswego rivers— not " Three Rivers'' 
in Canada. 



1777.] THE ENEMY AT OSWEGO. 217 

friendship of the Six Nations, and almost free this part of the 
country from the incursions of the enemy."* 

The certainty that the invaders were thus approaching, the 
earnestness of the appeals of the Committee to the patriotism of 
the people, the influence of the proclamation of the German 
General, who was a much better man than officer, save only in 
the single attribute of courage ; and, above all, the positive 
existence of a common danger from which there was no es- 
cape ; were circumstances, together, not without their effect. 
And although the eleventh hour had arrived, yet the militia, 
and all upon whom the call to arms had been made, now began 
to move with a degree of alacrity and an exhibition of spirit 
that went far to atone for the unpatriotic, if not craven, symp- 
toms already noticed. 

Meantime, having completed his organization at Oswego, 
General St. Leger commenced his march upon Fort Schuyler, 
moving by the route already indicated, though with great cir- 
cumspection. The name of this place of rendezvous has al- 
ready recurred more than once, or twice, in the preceding 
pages. Its position was important, and it had been a place of 
renown in the earlier wars of the Colony. The river bearing 
the same name, which here pours Northwardly into Lake On- 
tario, is the outlet both of the Oneida and Seneca rivers, through 
which, and their tributary streams, it is connected with the 
chain of small lakes bearing the names of Oneida, Cazenovia, 
Skaneateles, Owasco, Cayuga, Seneca, and Canandaigua. Its 
estuary, of course, forms the natural opening into the rich 
district of country surrounding those lakes, which, down 
to the period of the present history, contained the principal 
towns of four of the Five Nations of Indians. During the 
wars between the French and Fi\^e Nations, Oswego was re- 
peatedly occupied by the armies of the former. It was here 
that Count Frontenac landed, on his invasion of the Onondaga 
country in 1692, at which time, or subsequently, a considera- 
ble military work was erected on the western side of the river. 
During the war with France, which was closed in America by 
the conquest of Canada, it was in the occupancy of the Provin- 

* MS. letter amon^ the papers of General Gansevoort. Thomas Sppncer was a 
blacksmith, who had resided amoncr the CayuHas, and was greatly beloved by the 
Uidiai^s.— Letter from General Schuyler to Colonel Daijton—Gmsevoort papers. 



218 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

cials and English. The expedition destined to descend the 
St. Lawrence upon Montreal, was assembled at this point in 
1759, after the fall of Niagara, under General Shirley and Sir 
William Johnson, The army was encamped here several 
weeks, and finally broke up without attempting its main object 
—owing, as Sir William Johnson intimates in his private 
diary, to a want of energy on the part of Shirley. After the 
fall of Quebec and Montreal into the hands of the English, a 
battalion of the 55th regiment was stationed at Oswego, under 
Major Duncan, a brother of the naval hero of Camperdown. 
A new and far more formidable work was constructed upon the 
Eastern or North-eastern promontory, formed by the embouchure 
of the river into the lake. The new position was far better 
chosen for a fortress than the old ; and, ultimately, before the 
Britons were dispossessed of it by the Americans, it became a 
work of somewhat formidable strength and dimensions. The 
situation is one of the most beautiful that can be imagined ; 
and during the two or three years in which Major Duncan was 
in command, by the cultivation of a large garden, the laying 
out and improving of a bowling-green, and other pleasure- 
grounds, it was rendered a little paradise in the wilderness.* 

All told, the army of St. Leger consisted of seventeen hun- 
dred men — Indians included. These latter were led by Thay- 
endanegea. The order of their march, as beautifully drawn 
and colored, was subsequently taken, with the escritoire of the 
commanding General, and will be found on the subsequent 
page, accurately copied and engraved. The advance of the 
main body, it will be seen, was formed of Indians, marching in 
five Indian columns ; that is, hi single files, at large distances 
from each other, and four hundred and sixty paces in front of the 
line. From these columns of Indians, files were stretched at a 
distance often paces from each other, forming a line of com- 
munication with the advanced guard of the line, which was 
one hundred paces in front of the column. The right and left 
flanks were covered by Indians at one hundred paces, forming 
likewise lines of communication with the main body. The 
King's regiment moved from the left by Indian file, while the 
34th moved in the same order from the right. The rear-guard 

* See Mrs. Grant's delightful book—" Memoirs of an American Lady," chap- 
ters xliv. to xlvii. inclusive. 



177/ 



ST. leger's order of march. 



-J^ 



O Columns Icf/nJlans 




Mvanced Cuard . 



219 



1 ^^i Ji 



li 




» 



1^1 






.%^ 



-^i.'}"f «'''«". 



S/'Or j Guard. 



^^-^/- 



220 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

was formed of re^lar troops ; while the advance guard, com 
posed of sixty marksmen, detached from Sir John Johnson's 
regiment of Royal Greens, was led by Sir John's brother-in-law, 
Captain Watts. Each corps was likewise directed to have ten 
chosen marksmen in different parts of its line, in case of at- 
tack, to be pushed forward to any given point as circumstances 
might require.* 

From these extraordinary precautions, it may well be inferred 
that General St. Leger, who probably acted much under the 
advice of Sir John Johnson and the refugee Provincials, who 
must have been best acquainted with the country and the cha- 
racter of the enemy they were going to encounter, was not a 
little apprehensive of an attack by surprise while on his march. 

In addition to the arrangements already indicated, a detach- 
ment from the 8th regiment, with a few Indians, was sent a 
day or more in advance, under tlie command of Lieutenant 
Bird. This officer pushed forward with spirit, but was some- 
what annoyed by the insubordination and independent action 
of his allies. The following extracts from his private diary t 
will not only disclose his own embarrassments, but illustrate 
the character of Indian warriors acting in concert with regular 
troops : — 

" Tuesday, 28th July, 1777.— After going two miles, and no 
savages coming up, waited two hours for them. Sixteen Sene- 
cas arriving, proceeded to the Three Rivers % — waited there 
two hours — seventy or eighty Messesaugues coming up, I pro- 
posed moving forward. They had stolen two oxen from the 
drove of the army, and would not advance, but stayed to feast. 
I advanced without Indians seven miles farther — in all nine- 
teen miles. Posted four sentinels all night from a sergeant's 
guard of twelve men — relieved every hour — visited every half 
hour. All fires put out at 9 o'clock. 

" Wednesday — Set off next morning at six, having waited 
for the savages till that time, though none arrived. Ordered 
the boats to keep seventy rods behind each other — half the men 
keeping their arms in their hands, while the other half rowed. 
Ordered, on any of the boats being fired upon, that the men 

• MS. directions found among the captured papers of St. Leger. 

■f MS.Dinry ofLt. Henry r>ird, captured from Gen. St. Leger by Col. Gansevoort. 

I The jujictiou of the OneiJii, Soiieca, and ©.^we^o rivers. 



1777.] DIARY OF LIEUT. BIRD. 221 

should jump ashore. The rest to support them with all expe- 
dition. Rowed all night. Encamped at Nine Mile Point. 

" Thwsdaij, July 30. — With twenty-seven Senecas and 
nine Messesaugues joined Mr. Hair's party.* Many savages be- 
ing with us, proceeded to Wood Creek, a march of fifteen 
miles. ********* 

" Friday. — The savages hinted an intention to send parties 
to Fort Stanwix, but to proceed in a body no farther. I called 
a council of the chiefs — told them I had orders to approach 
near the fort — that if they would accompany me, 1 should be 
content ; but if they would not go, I should take the white peo- 
ple under my command, and proceed myself. The Messesau- 
gues said they would go with me. The Senecas said I had 
promised to be advised by their chiefs — that it was their way 
to proceed with caution. I answered, that I meant only as to 
fighting in the bush, but that I had communicated my inten- 
tions to them in the former camp, of preventing them [the 
Americans meaning] from stopping the creek,t and investing 
their fort. But since I had promised to be advised by them, 
I would take it so far as to wait till next morning — and would 
then certainly march by daybreak. After some counselling, 
they seemed pleased with what I had said, and said they would 
send out large scouts to prepare the way. Accordingly eight- 
teen or twenty set off" this evening." 

On the 2d of August, however. Bird wrote back to his Gene- 
ral that no savages would advance with him except Henriques, 
a Mohawk, and one other of the Six Nations, an old acquaint- 
ance of his. The letter continues : — " Those two, Sir, I hope 
" to have the honor to present to you. A savage, who goes by 
" the name of Commodore Bradley, was the chief cause of their 
" not advancing to-day. Twelve Messesaugues came up two 
" or three hours after my departure. Those, with the scout of 
" fifteen I had the honor to mention to you in my last, are suf- 
'' ficient to invest Fort Stanwix, if you favor me so far as not 
" to order to the contrary. t 

St. Leger received this letter on the same day, at Nine 

* Lieut. Hair — afterward killed. 

t General Schuyler had directed the commanding officer of Fort Stanwix to ob- 
struct the navigation of Wood Creek by felling trees therein. 
\ MS. of the original letter, among the Gansevoort papers. 



222 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

Mile Point, whence he immediately despatched the following 
reply : — 

General St. Leger to Lieut. Bird. 

" Nine Mile Point, Aug. 2, 1777. 
« Sir, 
"I this instant received your letter containing the account 
of your operations since you were detached, which I with great 
pleasure tell you have been sensible and spirited ; your resolu- 
tion of investing Fort Stanwix is perfectly right ; and to ena- 
ble you to do it with greater effect, I have detached Joseph 
[Thayendanegea] and his corps of Indians to reinforce you. 
You will observe that I will have nothing but an investiture 
made ; and in case the enemy, observing the discretion and 
judgment with which it is made, should offer to capitulate, you 
are to tell them that you are sure I am well disposed to listen 
to them : this is not to take any honor out of a young soldier's 
hands, but by the presence of the troops to prevent the barba- 
rity and carnage which will ever obtain where Indians make 
so superior a part of a detachment ; I shall move from hence 
at eleven o'clock, and be early in the afternoon at the entrance 
of the creek. 

" I am. Sir, your most obt. and humble ser't. 

"Barry St. Leger." 
" Lieut. Bird, 8th reg't:'" 

The investment of the fort was made by Lieut. Bird forth- 
with — Brant arriving to his assistance at the same time. 
But the result of the siege that followed proved that the British 
commander had grievously miscalculated the spirit of the garri- 
son of Fort Stanwix, in his anticipations of a speedy capitulation. 
Still, his prudential order, the object of which was to prevent 
an unnecessary sacrifice of life at the hands of his Indian allies, 
calculating, of course, upon an easy victory, was not the less 
commendable on that account. 

The situation of Fort Stanwix itself— or rather Fort Schuy- 
ler, as it must now be called — next demands attention. At the 
beginning of the year, as we have already seen, the post was 

♦ MS. of die original letter, among the Gansevoort papers,— Vide, also, Camp- 
bell's Annals. 



1777.] siTUA'rio:^" of fout .schuyi.eii. 223 

commanded by Colonel Elmore of the State service. The 
term of that officer expiring- in April, Colonel Peter Gansevoort, 
also of the State troops, was designated as Colonel Elmore's 
successor, by an order from General Gates, dated the 26th ot 
that month. Notwithstanding the labors of Colonel Drayton, 
in repairing the works, the preceding year. Colonel Gansevoort 
found them in such a state of dilapidation, that they were not 
only indefensible, but untenable. A brisk correspondence 
ensued between that officer and General Schuyler upon the 
subject, from which it is manifest that, to say nothing of the 
miserable condition of his defences, with the prospect of an in- 
vasion from the West before him, his situation was in other 
respf^cts sufficiently deplorable. He had but a small number 
of men, and many of those were sick by reason of destitution.* 
Added to all which was the responsibility of the Indian relations 
confided to him by special order of General Schuyler on the 
9th of June.t 

Colonel Marinus Willett was soon afterward directed to join 
the garrison at Fort Schuyler with his regiment, and most 
fortunate was the selection of such an officer as Willett to co- 
operate with such another as Gansevoort ; since all the skill, 
and energy, and courage of both were necessary for the situa- 
tion. The work itself was originally a square fort, with four 
bastions, surrounded by a ditch of considerable width and 
depth, with a covert way and glacis around three of its angles ; 
the other being sufficiently secured by low, marshy ground. 
In front of the gate there had been a drawbridge, covered 
by a salient angle raised in front of it on the glacis. In the cen- 
tre of the ditch a row of perpendicular pickets had been erected, 
with rows of horizontal pickets fixed around the ramparts un- 
der the embrasures. But since the conclusion of the French 
war, the fort had fallen into decay ; the ditch was filled up, and 

* Letters among the Gansevoort papers. 

t " You will keep up a friendly intercourse with the Indians, and suffer no 
speeches to be made to them by any person not employed in the Indian Depart- 
ment; and when you have occasion to speak to them, let your speech be written, 
and a copy transmitted to me, that the Commissioners may be informed of every 
transaction with those people." — Schuyler^s letter to Colonel Gansevoort. Colonel 
G. lost no time in holding a council with such of the chiefs and warriors as yet re- 
mained friendly, and he seems to have fully acquired their confidence. He delivered 
a sensible speech on the occasion, but it contains nothing requiring farther note, 

3:^ 



224 LIFE OF BIIA.NT. [1777. 

the pickets had rotted and fallen down ;* nor had any suitable 
progress been made in its reparation. Immediate exertions, 
energetic and unremitting, were necessary to repair, or rather 
to renew and reconstruct, the works, and place them in a pos- 
ture of defence, should the long anticipated invasion ensue 
from that quarter. A more correct idea of the wretched condi- 
tion of the post, even down to the beginning of July, may be 
found from the annexed letter : — t 

Colonel Gansevoort to General Schuyler. 

" Fort ScJmyler, July Ath, 1777. 
" Sir, 
" Having taken an accurate review of the state of the garri- 
son, I think it is incumbent on me to inform your Excellency 
by express of our present circumstances. Every possible as- 
sistance is given to Captain Marquizee, to enable him to carry 
on such works as are deemed absolutely necessary for the de- 
fence of the garrison. The soldiers are constantly at work — 
even such of them as come off guard are immediately turned 
out to fatigue. But I cannot conceal from your Excellency 
the impossibility of attending fully to all the great objects 
pointed out in the orders issued to the commanding officer on 
the station, without farther assistance. Sending out sufficient 
parties of observation, felling the timber into Wood Creek, 
clearing the road from Fort Dayton, which is so embarrassed, 
in many parts, as to be impassable, and prosecuting, at the 
same time, the internal business of the garrison, are objects of 
the greatest importance, which should, if possible, be imme- 
diately considered. But while no exertions compatible with 
the circumstances we are in, and necessary to give your Ex- 
cellency satisfaction with respect to all these interesting matters, 
shall be omitted, I am very sensible it is not in our power to 
get over some capital obstructions without a reinforcement. 
The enclosed return, and the difficulties arising from the in- 
creasing number of hostile Indians, will show to your Excel- 
lency the grounds of my opinion. One hundred and fifty men 
would be needed speedily and effectually to obstruct Wood 
Creek ; an equal number will be necessary to guard the men at 

* Willett's Narrative. 

I MS. copy, preserved among General Gansevoort's papers. 



1777.] SITUATION OF FORT SCHUYLER. 225 

work in felling and hauling of timber. Such a deduction 
fi'om our number, together with smaller deductions for scouting 
parties, would scarcely leave a man in the garrison, which 
might therefore be easily surprised by a contemptible party of 
the enemy. The number of inimical Indians increases. On 
the affair of last week only two made their appearance. Yes- 
terday a party of at least forty, supposed to be Butler's emissa- 
ries, attacked Ensign Sporr with sixteen privates, who were out 
on fatigue, cutting turf about three quarters of a mile from the 
fort. One soldier was brought in dead and inhumanly man- 
gled ; two were brought in wounded — one of them slightly 
and the other mortally. Six privates and Mr. Sporr are 
missing. Two parties were immediately sent to pursue the 
enemy, but they returned without being able to come up with 
them. This success will, no doubt, encourage them to send 
out a greater number ; and the intelligence they may possibly 
acquire, will probably hasten the main body destined to act 
against us in these parts. Our provision is greatly diminished 
by reason of the spoiling of the beef, and the quantities that 
must be given from time to time to the Indians. It will not 
hold out above six weeks. Your Excellency will perceive, in 
looking over Captain Savage's return of the state of the artillery, 
that some essential articles are very scarce. As a great num- 
ber of the gun-bullets do not suit the fire-locks, some bullet- 
moulds of different sizes for casting others, would be of great 
advantage to us. Our stock of powder is absolutely too little ; a 
ton, in addition to what we have, is wanted as the lowest propor- 
tion for the shot we have on hand. We will, notwithstanding 
every difficulty, exert ourselves to the utmost of our power ; and 
if your Excellency will be pleased to order a speedy reinforce- 
ment, with a sufficient supply of provision and ammunition to 
enable us to hold out a siege, we will, I hope, by the blessing 
of God, be able to give a good account of any force that will 
probably come against us." 

The picture is gloomy enough ; and was rendered the more 
so from the mistakes of the engineer, a Frenchman, who had 
been employed by General Schuyler, and whom it was ulti- 
mately found necessary to arrest and send back to head-quarters.* 

* Willctt's Narrative. 



226 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

Colonel Willett had from the first doubted the capacity of 
Marquizee, and after his dismissal the work proceeded for the 
most part under his own immediate direction. 

The garrison had likewise other difficulties to encounter. 
With the gathering of St. Leger's motley forces at Oswego, pre- 
paratory to his descent upon the Mohawk, the Indians, as has 
already been seen by Gansevoort's letter, began to appear in 
scouting parties in the circumjacent forests. The utmost cau- 
tion was therefore necessary on leaving the fort, even for a short 
distance. It was during this critical period that the familiar 
incident of Captain Gregg and his faithful dog occurred, 
of which the following brief account was given by Colonel 
Gansevoort : — 

CoL. Gansevoort to Gen. Schuyler, (Extract.) 
" Fort Schuyler, June 26, 1777. 
" I am sorry to inform your Honor that Captain Gregg and 
Corporal Madison, of my regiment, went out a gunning yester- 
day morning, contrary to orders. It seems they went out just 
after breakfast, and at about 10 o'clock Corporal Madison was 
killed and scalped. Captain Gregg was shot through his back, 
tomahawked and scalped, and is still alive. He informs me 
that the misfortune happened about ten o'clock in the morning. 
He looked at his watch after he was scalped. He saw but two 
Indians. He was about one mile and a half from the fort, 
and was not discovered until two o'clock in the afternoon. I 
immediately sent out a party and had him brought into the 
fort, just after three o'clock ; also the corpse of Madison. Gregg 
is perfectly in his senses, and speaks strong and hearty, not- 
withstanding that his recovery is doubtful."'* 

There was little of romance in Colonel Gansevoort, and he 
related the incident with military brevity. The story, how- 
ever, has often been told, with a variety of amplifications, par- 
ticularly in regard to the wounded soldier's faithful dog. to 
whose affectionate sagacity he is said to have been indebted for 
his discovery, if not his life. According to the narrative of 
President Dwight, it appears that Gregg and his companion 
had been seduced into a fatal disobedience of orders, by the 

» MS, of the original draught, among Col. Gansevoort's piipera. 



1777. 



STORY OF CAPTAIN GREGG, 227 



clouds of pigeons appearing in the adjoining woods. Imme- 
diately upon their fall, the Indians rushed upon them for their 
scalps, which they took— giving each a simultaneous cut upon 
the head with their tomahawks. The corporal had been killed 
by the shot, but Captain Gregg was only wounded.* Feign- 
ing death, however, he had the presence of mind, and the for- 
titude, to submit to the subsequent torture without betraying 
himself by a groan or the quivering of a muscle. The Indians 
departing immediately, Captain Gregg crawled to his lifeless 
companion, and pillowed his head upon his body ; while his 
faithful dog ran to a place at no great distance thence, where 
two men were engaged in fishing, and by his imploring looks 
and significant actions, induced them to follow him to the spot 
where lay his wounded master. Hastening to the fort, the fish- 
ermen reported what they had seen, and a party of soldiers be- 
ing forthwith despatched to the place, the bodies of the wounded 
and the dead were speedily brought into the garrison, as we 
have seen from tlie Colonel's oflicial account. Captain Gregg 
was severely wounded, independently of the scalping ; and his 
case was for a long time critical. 

The friendly Indians, then chiefly, if not exclusively, Onei- 
das, though still acting and speaking in the name of the Six 
Nations, presented an address of condolence to Colonel Ganse- 
voort on this occasion, to which the latter made a suitable reply, 

which alone has been preserved, and reads as follows : 

" Brother Warriors of the Six Nations : I thank you 
for your good talk. 

" Brothers: You tell us you are sorry for the cruel usage 
of Captain Gregg, and the murder of one of our warriors ; that 
you would have immediately pursued the murderers, had not 
General Schuyler, General Gates, and the French General, de- 
sired you not to take any part in this war ; and that you have 
obeyed their orders, and are resolved to do so. I commend 
your good inclination and intention. 

" Brothers : You say you have sent a runner to the Six 

* It has been asserted in history, that St. Leger encouraged these isolated mur- 
ders by large bounties for scalps. Twenty dollars is said to have been the price he 
paid ; but his despatch to Lieut. Bird, before cited, does not corroborate the charge 
of such inhumanity. That despatch was a private document, moreover, not written 
for the light, or for effect, and must therefore be received as irue. It was found 
aiaoug Col. Gansevoort's papers. 



228 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

Nations, to inform them of what has happened, and tliat you 
expect some of your chiefs will look into the affair, and try to 
find out the murdqrers. You have done well. I shall be glad 
to smoke a pipe with your chiefs, and hope they will do as they 
speak. 

" Brothers : I hope the mischief has been done, not by any 
of our good friends of the Oneida nation, but by the Tories, 
who are enemies to you as well as to us, and who are ready to 
murder yourselves, your wives, and children, if you will not be 
as wicked as themselves. 

" Brothers : When your chiefs shall convince me that In- 
dians of the Six Nations have had no hand in this wicked thing, 
and shall use means to find out the murderers and bring them 
to justice, you may be assured that we will strengthen the 
chain of friendship, and embrace you as our good brothers. I 
will not suffer any of our warriors to hurt you." 

The address contained two or three additional paragraphs 
in reference to other subjects. Captain Gregg recovered, 
and resumed his duties ; and having served to the end of the 
war, lived many years afterward. 

Another tragic incident occurred at nearly the same time. 
About noon, on the 3d of July, the day being perfectly clear. 
Colonel Willet was startled from his siesta by the report of 
musketry. Hastening to the parapet of the glacis, he saw a 
little girl running with a basket in her hand, while the blood 
was trickling down her bosom. On investigating the facts, it 
appeared that the girl, with two others, was picking berries, not 
two hundred yards from the fort, when they were fired upon 
by a party of Indians, and two of the number killed. Happily, 
she \vho only was left to tell the tale, was but slightly wounded. 
One of the girls killed, was the daughter of an invalid, who had 
served many years in the British artillery. He was entitled to 
a situation in Chelsea Hospital, but had preferred rather to re- 
main in the cultivation of a small piece of ground at Fort Stan- 
wix, than again to cross the ocean.* 

By the middle of July, the Indians hovering about the fort 
became so numerous, and so bold, as to occasion great annoy- 
ance. Large parties of soldiers could only venture abroad on 
the most pressing emergencies ; and even one of these was at- 

♦ WiJlett's Nanative. 



1777.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIEGE. 229 

tacked, several of its numbers killed and woun ed, and the 
officer in command taken prisoner. The force of the garrison, 
at this time, consisted of about five hundred and fifty men— ill- 
supplied, as we have already seen, both with provisions and 
munitions of war. Fortunately, however, on the 2d of August, 
the very day of the investiture of the fort by the advance of St. 
Leger's army under Thayendanegea and Bird, Lieutenant 
Colonel Mellon, of Colonel Weston's regiment, arrived with 
two hundred men, and two batteaux of provisions and military 
stores. Not a moment was lost in conveying tliese opportune 
supplies into the fort. Delay would, indeed, have been danger- 
ous ; for at the instant the last loads arrived at the fort, the ene- 
my appeared on the skirt of the forest, so near to the boats, that 
the captain who commanded them became their prisoner.* 

The command of Colonel Gansevoort now consisted of seven 
hundred and fifty men, all told ; and upon examination it was 
ascertained that they had provisions for six weeks— with fixed 
ammunition enough for the small arms. But for the cannon 
they were lamentably deficient — having barely enough for nine 
rounds per diem during the period specified. A besieging 
army was before the fort, and its garrison was without a flag ! 
But as necessity is the mother of invention, they were not long 
thus destitute. Stripes of white were cut from ammunition 
shirts ; blue from a camblet cloak captured from the enemy ; 
while the red was supplied from such odds and ends of clothes 
of that hue as were at hand.t And, thus furnished, commenced 
the celebrated defence of Fort Schuyler. 

Such was the condition of Fort Schuyler at the commence- 
ment of the memorable siege of 1777 — an event, with its attend- 
ing circumstances, forming an important feature in the Northern 
border warfare of the Revolution, Colonel St. Legert himself 
arrived before the fort on the 3d of August, with his whole 
force — a motley collection of British regulars, Hessian auxilia- 

* Willett's Narrative. f Idem. 

X It is difficult, from the books, to determine what was at that time the precise 
rank of St. Leger. He has usually been called a Brigadier General. By some 
contemporary writers he was called Colonel St. Leger. But in General Burgoyne's 
despatches to Lord George Germaine, of August 20, 1777, he is repeatedly deno- 
minated Lhutenant- Colonel St. Leger. He is also called Colonel St. Leger by Bis- 
sett. But he, nevertheless, signed his name as a Brigadier-General in a letter toCoL 
Gansevoort, on the 9th of August, 



230 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

lies, New- York loyalists, usually denominated "Johnson's 
Greens," together with numbers of the Canadians, and the In- 
dians under Tliayendanejjea. Sir John Johnson, and Colonels 
Claus and Butler,* were also engaged with him in the expe- 
dition. A flag was sent into the fort on the morning of that 
day, with a copy of a rather pompous proclamation from St. 
Leger, which, it was probably supposed, from its vaunting 
threats and lavish promises, might produce a strong impression 
upon the garrison. " The forces intrusted to my command 
" are designed to act in concert, and upon a common principle, 
" with the numerous armies and fleets which already display, 
"in every quarter of America, the power, the justice, and, when 
" properly sought, the mercy of the King." So commenced the 
proclamation. After denouncing "the unnatural rebellion" 
as having already been made the "foundation for the com- 
" pletest system of tyranny that ever God in his displeasure suf- 
" fered for a time to be exercised over a froward and stubborn 
" generation," and chargmg that " arbitrary imprisonment, 
" confiscation of property, persecution and torture, unprece- 
" dented in the inquisitions of the Roman church, were among 
" the palpable enormities that verified the afth'mation " — and 
after denouncing " the profanation of religion," and other 
" shocking proceedings " of the civil authorities and commit- 
tees in rebellion, the proclamation proceeded — " animated by 
" these considerations ; at the head of troops in the full powers 
" of health, discipline, and valor ; determined to strike where 
" necessary, and anxious to spare when possible, I, by these 
" presents, invite and exhort all persons in all places where the 
" progress of this army may point, and by the blessing of God 
" I will extend it far, to maintain such a conduct as may justify 
" me in protecting their lands, habitations, and families." The 
object of his address was to hold forth security, and not depre- 
dation ; he offered employment to those who would join his 
standard ; security to the infirm and industrious ; and payment 
in coin for all the supplies the people would bring to his camp. 
In conclusion, he said — " If, notwithstanding these endeavors. 



• At the breaking out of the war, John Butler was Lieutenant-Colonel of a regi- 
ment of the Tryon County militia, of which Guy Johnson was the Colonel and 
Jelles Fonda the Major. Sir John had been commissioned a General after tlie de- 
cease of his futlier. 



1777.] PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 231 

" and sincere inclinations to effect them, the frenzy of hostility 
'• should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of 
" God and men, in denouncing and executing the vengeance 
'•' of the State against the wilful outcasts. The messengers of 
"justice and of wrath await them in the field ; and devastation, 
•' famine, and every concomitant horror that a reluctant, but 
*' indispensable prosecution of military duty must occasion, 
" will bar the way to their return."* 

This manifesto, however, produced no effect, then or after- 
ward. The siege had been anticipated, and the brave garrison, 
officers and men, had counted the cost and determined to defend 
the fortress to the last. Accordingly, hostilities commenced 
actively on the morning of the following day. The Indians, 
concealing themselves behind clumps of shrubbery and stumps 
of trees, annoyed the men who were employed in raising the 
ptft-apets not a little with their rifles. Several were wounded ; 
and it was found necessary immediately to station sharp- 
shooters at suitable points, to watch opportunities, and fire in re- 
turn. The 5th was spent in much the same manner, with the 
addition of the throwing of a few shells by the enemy — several of 
which fell within the fort, and some in the barracks. " On the 
" evening of this day, soon after it was dark, the Indians, who 
" were at least one thousand in number, spread themselves 
" through the woods, completely encircling the fort, and com- 
" menced a terrible yelling, which was continued at intervals 
" the greater part of the night."t 

Having thus commenced his operations. Colonel St, Leger 
found means of conveying the intelligence to General Bur- 
goyne — not for a moment anticipating the distressing circum- 
stances in which the Northern Commander-in-chief already 
found himself involved, though but mid- way in the career of 
victory. Harassed incessantly by the foes he had vanquished ; 
unable to obtain supplies, except by sending back for them to 
Fort George, in which service his troops were already greatly 
fatigued ; not one third of his horses arrived from Cana- 
da ; the roads excessively bad, and rendered all but impassa- 

* For the proclamation, entire, see Appendix No. III. It is a copy, or nearly so, 
of the proclamation almost simultaneously issued by General Burgoyne, anmuncin<» 
his approach from Lake Chanipiain. 

t Willett's Narrative. 

34 



232 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

ble by a deluge of rain ; with only four days of provisions on 
hand ; the vaunting General, who had boasted in the British 
capital that, with ten thousand men, he could march through 
the whole rebel country at pleasure, already found himself in 
an unenviable situation. But on learning the advance of Ge- 
neral St. Leger, he instantly and justly considered that a rapid 
movement forward, at this critical juncture, would be of the 
utmost importance. If the retreating Americans should pro- 
ceed up the Mohawk with a view of relieving Fort Schuyler, 
in the event of St. Leger's success against that place they 
would place themselves between two fires ; or perhaps Bur- 
goyne supposed that were such a movement to be made on the 
part of the Americans, he might yet throw his army between 
them and Albany, and thus compel them either to stand a ge- 
neral engagement or to strike off to the right, and by recrossing 
the Hudson higher up, secure a retreat into New England. If, 
on the other hand, the Americans should abandon Fort Schuyler 
to its fate, and themselves fall back upon Albany, he argued 
that the Mohawk country would of course be entirely laid open 
to him ; his junction with St. Leger established, and the com- 
bined army be at liberty to select its future line of operation.* 
But his supplies were inadequate to such an extensive opera- 
tion, and his army was too weak to allow him to keep up such 
a chain of posts as would enable him to bring them up daily 
from the de^Jot at Lake George. With a view, therefore, of 
obtaining immediate relief, and of opening a new source of sup- 
ply, especially of cattle, from the upper settlements of New 
England, the expedition to Bennington, the place of deposite of 
provisions for the Provincial forces, was planned, and committed 
to a detachment of the Hessian troops, under Colonel Baum, for 
execution. The signal failure of this expedition was calculated 
still farther both to embarrass and depress the invaders ; while 
the brilliant success of the militia under General Starke on 
that occasion, proving, as it had done, that neither English 
nor German troops were invincible, revived the drooping spirits 
of the disheartened ; re-inspired the people with confidence of 
ultimate success ; and was the source of universal exultation. 
The progress of events brings us back to the lower Valley of 

♦ London Universal Magazine. 



1777.] ADVANCE OF GENERAL HERKIMER. 233 

the Mohawk. No sooner was the advance of St. Leger upon 
Fort Schuyler known to the Committee and officers of Tryoii 
County, than General Herkimer, in conformity with the pro- 
clamation heretofore cited, summoned the militia of his com- 
mand to the field, for the purpose of marching to the succor of 
the garrison. Notwithstanding the despondency that had pre- 
vailed in the early part of the Summer, the call was nobly re- 
sponded to, not only by the militia, but by the gentlemen ot 
the County, and most of the members of the Committee, who 
entered the field either as officers or private volunteers. The 
fears so generally and so recently indulged seemed all to have 
vanished with the arrival of the invader, and the General soon 
found himself at the head of between eight hundred and a 
thousand men, all eager for action and impatient of delay. 
Their place of rendezvous was at Fort Dayton, (German Flatts,) 
in the upper section of the Mohawk Valley — and the most 
beautiful. The regiments were those of Colonels Klock, 
Visscher, Cox, and one or two others, augmented by volunteers 
and volunteer officers, who were pushing forward as though de- 
termined at all hazards to redeem the character of the county. 
Indeed, their proceedings were by far too impetuous, since they 
hurried forward in their march without order or precaution, 
without adequate flanking parties, and without reconnoitring 
the ground over which they were to pass. They moved from 
Fort Dayton on the 4th, and on the 5th reached the neighbor- 
hood of Oriskany,* where they encamped. From this point 
an express t was sent forward by General Herkimer to apprise 
Colonel Gansevoort of his approach, and to concert measures of 
co-operation. The arrival of the express at the fort was to be 
announced by three successive discharges of cannon, the re- 
port of which, it was supposed, would be distinctly heard at 
Oriskany — only eight miles distant. Delays, however, inter- 
vened, so that the messengers did not reach the fort until ten or 
eleven o'clock on the following morning ; previous to which 
the camp of the enemy being uncommonly silent, a portion of 
their troops had been observed by the garrison to be moving 
alono- the edge of the woods down the river, in the direction of 

* Probably the site of Whitestown. One of the MS. narratives in the author's 
possession says they crossed the river at old Fort Schuyler (now Uti<:a. ) 
t Adam Il(.'liiicr accompanied by two other men. 



234 I,IFK OF ERANT. [1777. 

the Oriskany Creek.* The concerted signals were immediate- 
ly fired ;t and as the proposition of Herkimer was to force a 
passage to the fort, arrangements were immediately made by 
Colonel Gansevoort to effect a diversion of the enemy's atten- 
tion, by making a sally from the fort upon the hostile camp, 
for which purpose two hundred men were detailed, consisting 
one half of Gansevoort's, and one half of the Massachusetts 
troops, and one field-piece — an iron three pounder. The exe- 
cution of the enterprise was entrusted to Colonel Willett.J 

It appears that on the morning of that day, which was the 
Gth of August, General Herkimer had misgivings as to the pro- 
priety of advancing any farther without first receiving reinforce- 
ments. His officers, however, were eager to press forward. A 
consultation was held, in which some of the officers manifested 
much impatience at any delay, while the General still urged 
them to remain where they were until reinforcements could 
come up, or at least until the signal of a sortie should be re- 
ceived from the fort. High words ensued, during which 
Colonels Cox and Paris, and many others, denounced their 
commander to his face as a Tory and coward. The brave old 
man calmly replied that he considered himself placed over 
them as a father, and that it was not his wish to lead them into 
any difficulty from which he could not extricate them. Burn- 
ing, as they now seemed, to meet the enemy, he told them 
roundly that they would run at his first appearance. § But his 
remonstrances were unavailing. Their clamor increased, and 
their reproaches were repeated, until, stung by imputations of 
cowardice and a want of fidelity to the cause, II and somewhat 
irritated withal, the General immediately gave the order — 



* Letter of Colonel Willett to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut. 
t MS. of Captain Henry Seeber, in the author's possession. See, also, Willett's 
Narrative. 

I Willett's letter to Governor Trumbull. The officers serving in this detach- 
ment were Captain Van Benschoten and Lieutenant Stockvvell, who led the ad- 
vance guard ; Captains Allen, (of Massachusetts,) Bleecker, Johnson, and Swart- 
wout; Lieutenants Diefendorf, Conyne, Bogardus, M'Clenner, and Ball; Ensigns 
Chase, Bailey, Lewis, Denniston, Magee, and Arnent. The rear-guard was com- 
manded by Major Badlam. 

§ Travels of President Dwipht, vol. iii. p. 192. 

II MS. statement of George Walter, in f>ossession of the author; also of Henry 
Seeber. 



1777.] BATTLE OF ORISKANY. 235 

" March on !"* The words were no sooner heard than the 
troops ^ave a shout, and moved, or rather rushed forward. 
They marched in files of two deep, preceded by an advanced 
guard and keeping flanks upon each side.t 

Having, by 10 o'clock, proceeded rapidly forward to the dis- 
tance of only two or three miles,+ the guards, both front and 
flanks, were suddenly shot down, the forest rang with the war- 
whoops of a savage foe, and in an instant the greater part of 
the division found itself in the midst of a formidable ambuscade. 
Colonel St. Leger, it appeared, having heard of the advance of 
General Herkimer, in order to prevent an attack in his intrench- 
ments, had detached a division of Sir John Johnson's regiment 
of Greens, under Sir John's brother-in-law. Major Watts, Colo- 
nel Butler with his Rangers, and Joseph Brant with a strong 
body of Indians, to intercept his approach. § With true Indian 
sagacity, Thayendanegea had selected a position admirably fit- 
ted for his purpose, which was, to draw the Americans, whom 
he well knew to be approaching in no very good military array, 
into an ambuscade. The locality favored his design. There 
was a deep ravine crossing the path which Herkimer with his 
undisciplined array was traversing, " sweeping toward the 
" East in a semi-circular form, and bearing a Northern and 
" Southern direction. The bottom of this ravine was marshy, 
" and the road crossed it by means of a causeway. The ground, 
" thus partly enclosed by the ravine, was elevated and level. 
" The ambuscade was laid upon the high ground west of the 
" ravine." II 

The enemy had disposed himself adroitly, in a circle, leav- 
ing only a narrow segment open for the admission of the ill- 
starred Provincials on their approach. The stratagem was 

* Statement of Adam Miller, in possession of the author. 

t It has been charged by most writers that even these ordinary precautions were 
not observed. Miller and Walter, however, both assert the fact. 

I The battle ground is about two miles west of Oriskany, and six from Whites- 
borough. 

§ In every account of this battle which has fallen under the author's observation, 
Ifecepting that of Colonel Willett, Sir John Johnson is made the British commander 
at this battle. He was not in it at all, as will appear a few pages forward. Even the 
cautious and inquisitive President Dwight fulls into the error, and carries it through 
his whole account. 

II Campbell's Annals. 



236 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

successful. Unconscious of the presence of the foe, Herkimer, 
with his whole army excepting the rear-guard, composed of 
Colonel Visscher's regiment, found himself encompassed at 
the first fire— the enemy closing up the gap at the instant of 
making himself known. By thus early completing the circle, the 
baggage and ammunition waggons, which had just descended 
into the ravine, were cut off and separated from the main body, 
as also was the regiment of Colonel Visscher, yet on the Eastern 
side of the ravine ; which, as their general had predicted, 
instantly and ingloriously fled, leaving their companions to 
their fate. They were pursued, however, by a portion of the 
Indians, and suffered more severely, probably, than they would 
have done, had they stood by their fellows in the hour of need, 
either to conquer or to fall. 

Being thrown into irretrievable disorder by the suddenness of 
the surprise and the destructiveness of the fire, which was 
close and brisk from every side, the division was for a time 
threatened with annihilation. At every opportunity the sa- 
vages, concealed behind the trunks of trees, darted forward 
with knife and tomahawk to ensure the destruction of those 
who fell ; and many and fierce were the conflicts that ensued 
hand to hand. The veteran Herkimer fell, wounded, in the 
early part of the action — a musket ball having passed through 
and killed his horse, and shattered his own leg just below the 
knee.* The General was placed upon his saddle, however, 
against the trunk of a tree for his support, and thus continued 
to order the battle. Colonel Cox, and Captains Davis and Van 
Sluyck, were severally killed near the commencement of the 
engagement ; and the slaughter of their broken ranks, from the 
rifles of the Tories and the spears and tomahawks of the Indians, 
was dreadful. But even in this deplorable situation the 
wounded General, his men dropping like leaves around him, 
and the forest resounding with the horrid yells of the savages, 
ringing high and wild over the din of battle, behaved with the 
most perfect firmness and composure. The action had lasted 
about forty-five minutes in great disorder, before the Provincials 
formed themselves into circles in order to repel the attacks ot 
the enemy, who were concentrating, and closing in upon them 

* Wal Ion's MS. account. 



1777.] BATTLK OF ORISKANY. 237 

from all sides.* From this moment the resistance of the Pro- 
vincials was more efFective, and the enemy attempted to charge 
with the bayonet. The firing ceased for a time, excepting the 
scattering discharges of mnsquetry from the Indians ; and as 
the bayonets crossed, the contest became a death struggle, hand 
to hand and foot to foot. Never, however, did brave men stand 
a charge with more dauntless courage, and the enemy for the 
moment seemed to recoil — just at the instant when the work 
of death was arrested by a heavy shower of rain, which sud- 
denly broke upon the combatants with great fury. The storm 
raged for upward of an hour, during which time the enemy 
sought such shelter as might be found among the trees at a 
respectful distance ; for they had already suffered severely, not- 
withstanding the advantages in their favor. 

During this suspension of the battle, both parties had time to 
look about, and make such new dispositions as they pleased 
for attack and defence, on renewing the murderous conflict. 
The Provincials, under the direction of their General, were so 
fortunate as to take possession of an advantageous piece of 
ground, upon which his men formed themselves into a circle, 
and as the shower broke away, awaited the movements of the 
enemy. In the early part of the battle, the Indians, whenever 
they saw a gun fired by a militia-man from behind a tree, rushed 
upon and tomahawked him before he could re-load. In order 
to counteract this mode of warfare, two men were stationed 
behind a single tree, one only to fire at a time — the other re- 
serving his fire until the Indians ran up as before.t The fight 
was presently renewed, and by the new arrangement, and the 
cool execution done by the fire of the militia forming the main 
circle, the Indians were made to suffer severely ; so much so, 
that they began to give way, when Major Watts X came up with 
a reinforcement, consisting of another detachment of Johnson's 
Greens. § These men were mostly loyalists, who had fled from 

• The first movement of this kind was made by Jacob Seeber, without orders, ac- 
cording to the narrative of Henry Seeber. 
f Campbell's Annals. 

\ Brother of the late venerable John Watts, of New- York. 

§ Campbell. The enemy, as on the march from Oswego, had posted a line of 
sentinels at short distances from each other, extending from St. Leger's intrench- 
ments to the scene of action ; so that communications could be interchanged rapidfy, 
and at pleasure. 



238 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

Tryon County, now returned in arms against their former 
neighbors. As no quarrels are so bitter as those of famihes, so 
no wars are so cruel and passionate as those called civil. Many 
of the Provincials and Greens were known to each other; and 
as they advanced so near as to afford opportunities of mutual 
recognition, the contest became, if possible, more of a death 
struggle than before. Mutual resentments, and feelings of hate 
and revenge, raged in their bosoms. The Provincials fired 
upon them as they advanced, and then springing like chafed 
tigers from their covers, attacked them with their bayonets and 
the butts of their muskets, or both parties in closer contact 
throttled each other and drew their knives ; stabbing, and 
sometimes literally dying in one another's embrace. 

At length a firing was heard in the distance from the fort, a 
sound as welcome to the Provincials as it was astounding to 
the enemy. Availing themselves of the hint, however, a riise- 
de-guerre was attempted by Colonel Butler, which had well- 
nigh proved fatal. It was the sending, suddenly, from the di- 
rection of the fort, a detachment of the Greens disguised as 
American troops, in the expectation that they might be received 
as a timely reinforcement from the garrison. Lieutenant Jacob 
Sammons was the first to descry their approach, in the direction 
of a body of men commanded by Captain Jacob Gardenier — an 
officer who, during that memorable day, performed prodigies 
of valor. Perceiving that their hats were American, Sammons 
informed Captain Gardenier that succors from the fort were 
coming up. The quick eye of the Captain detected the ruse, 
and he replied — '= Not so : they are enemies : don't you see 
their green coats !"* They continued to advance until hailed 
by Gardenier, at which moment one of his own soldiers, ob- 
serving an acquaintance, and supposing him a friend, ran to 
meet him, and presented his hand. It was grasped, but with no 
friendly gripe, as the credulous fellow was dragged into the 
opposing line, and informed that he was a prisoner. He did not 
yield without a struggle ; during which Gardenier, watching 
the action and the result, sprang forward, and with a blow from 
his spear levelled the captor to the dust and liberated his man.f 
Others of the foe instantly set upon him, of whom he slew the 

* Manuscript narrative of William Gardenier, in the possession of the author. 
t Idem, 



1777.] CATTLK OF OKISKANY. 239 

second and wounded a third. Three of the disguised Greens 
now sprang upon him, and one of his spurs becoming en- 
tangled in their clothes, he was thrown to the ground. Still 
contending, however, with almost super-human strength, both 
of his thighs were transfixed to the earth by the bayonets of 
two of his assailants, while the third presented a bayonet to 
his breast, as if to thrust him through. Seizing this bayonet 
with his left hand, by a sudden wrench he brought its owner 
down upon himself, where he held him as a shield against the 
arms of the others, until one of his own men, Adam Miller,* 
observing the struggle, flew to his rescue. As tlie assailants 
turned upon their new adversary, Gardenier rose upon his seat ; 
and although his hand was severely lacerated by grasping the 
bayonet which had been drawn through it, he seized his spear 
lying by his side, and quick as lightning planted it to the barb 
in the side of the assailant with whom he had been clenched. 
The man fell and expired— proving to be Lieutenant M-Don- 
ald, one of the loyalist officers from Tryon County. All this 
transpired in far less time than is necessarily occupied by the re- 
lation. While engaged in the struggle, some of his own men 
called out to Gardenier—" for God's sake, Captain, you are 
killing your own men !" He replied—" they are not our men— 
they are the enemy— fire away !" A deadly fire from the Pro- 
vincials ensued, during which about thirty of the Greens fell 
slain, and many Indian warriors. The parties once more 
rushed upon each other with bayonet and spear, grappling and 
fighting with terrible fury ; while the shattering of shafts and 
the clashing of steel mingled with every dread sound of war and 
death, and the savage yells, more hideous than all, presented a 
scene which can be more easily imagined than described.f 
The unparalleled fortitude and bravery of Captain Gardenier in- 
fused fresh spirits into his men, some of whom enacted won- 
ders of valor likewise. It happened during the meleey in 

* The same whose private narrative has already been cited. 

+ MS. of William Gardenier. It was in reference to these individual deeds of 
prowess, that the eloquent Gouvemeur Morris thus spoke in his address before 
the New- York Historical Society :— " Let me recall, gentlemen, to your recollec- 
tion, that bloody field in which Herkimer fell. There was found the Indian and 
the white man born on the banks of the Mohawk, their left hand clenched in each 
other's hair, the right grasping in a gripe of death, the knife plunged in each other's 
bosomj thus they lay frowning." 



240 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

which the contending parties were mingled in great confusion, 
that three of Johnson's Greens rushed within the circle of the 
Provincials, and attempted to make prisoner of a Captain Dil- 
lenback. This officer had declared he would never he taken 
alive, and he was not. One of his three assailants seized his 
gun, but he suddenly wrenched it from him, and felled him 
with the butt. He shot the second dead, and tln-ust the third 
through with his bayonet.* But in the moment of his triumph 
at an exploit of which even the mighty Hector, or either of the 
sons of Zeruiah might have been proud, a ball laid this brave 
man low in the dust. 

Such a conflict as this could not be continued long ; and the 
Indians, perceiving with what ardor the Provincials maintained 
the fight, and finding their own numbers sadly diminished, now 
raised the retreating cry of " Ooiiak /" and fled in every direc- 
tion, under the shouts and hurrahs of the surviving Provincials 
and, a shower of bullets. Finding, moreover, from the firing at 
the fort, that, their presence was necessary elsewhere, the 
Greens and Rangers now retreated precipitately, leaving the 
victorious militia of Tryon County masters of the field.t 

Thus ended one of the severest, and, for the numbers en- 
gaged, one of the most bloody battles of the Revolutionary 
war. Though victorious, the loss of the Provincials was very 
heavy ; and Tryon County long had reason to mourn that day. 
Colonel Paris was taken prisoner by the enemy, and afterward 
murdered by the Indians. Several other prisoners were also 
killed by the savages, after they had been brought into Colonel 
Butler's quarters ; and, as it was said, by the Colonel's own 
tacit consent, if not permission in terms. But the general cha- 
racter of that officer forbids the imputation.! Major John Frey, 
of Colonel Klock's regiment, was likewise wounded and taken ; 

* George Walter relates this incident, in his narrative, in the possession of the 
author. Walter was himself a witness of the fact, while lying wounded with two 
balls, by the side of General Herkimer. 

f It is an extraordinary fact, that every historian who has written of the battle of 
Oriskany, has recorded it as a defeat of the Provincials, from Marshall and Ramsay 
down, to say nothing of the British chroniclers. Such was also the author's im- 
pression until he undertook the present investigation. Captain Brant himself, in 
conversation with Samuel Woodruff, Esq. admitted that they were the victors ; and 
all the wrUten statements which the author has been able to procure from the surviv- 
ors of that battle, bear the same testimony. 

j The late Doctor Moses Younglove, of Hudson, Columbia County, was the 



1777.] RATTLE OF OTirSKANV, 241 

and to show the more than savage fury burning in the bosoms 
of the men brought into conflict on this occasion, the disgrace- 
ful fact may be added, that his own brother, who was in the 
British service, attempted to take his hfe after he had arrived in 
Butler's camp. The Major saw his brother approaching in a 
menacing manner, and called out — " Brother, do not kill me ! 
Do you not know me ?" But the infuriated brother rushed 
forward, and the Major was only saved by the interposition of 
others.* The whole number of the Provincial militia killed 
was two hundred, exclusive of wounded and lost as prisoners. 
Such, at least, was the American report. The British state- 
ments claimed that four hundred of the Americans were killed, 
and two hundred taken prisoners. t 

Retaining possession of the field, the survivors immediately 
set themselves at work in constructing rude litters, upon which 
to bear off the wounded. Between forty and fifty of these, 
among whom was the commanding General, were removed in 
this manner. The brave old man, notwithstanding the impru- 
dence of the morning — imprudence in allowing a premature 
movement at the dictation of his subordinates— had nobly vin- 
dicated his character for courage during the day. Though 
wounded, as we have seen, in the onset, he had borne himself 
during the six hours of conflict, under the most trying circum- 
stances, with a degree of fortitude and composure worthy of all 
admiration. Nor was his example without eftect in sustaining 
his troops amid the perils by which they were environed. At 
one time during the battle, while sitting upon his saddle raised 

surgpOH of Gep.eral Herkimer's brigade. He was taken prisoner in this battle by a 
sergeant of Sir John Johnson's regiment. After his release he made a deposition 
setting forth many grievous barbarities committed, both by the Indians and Tories, 
upon the prisoners who fell into their hands that day. They were cruelly tortured, 
several of them murdered ; and, as the Doctor had reason to believe, some of them 
were subsequently taken to an island in Lake Ontario, and eaten. This is scarcely 
to be believed. See Deposition of Dr. Younglove, Appendix No. IV. 

* MS. statement of Jacob Timmerman, in the author's possession. 

t " On the 5lh I learned, from discovering parties on the Mohawk river, that a body 
of one thousand militia were on their march to raise the siege. On the confirmation 
of this news, I moved a large body of Indians, with some troops, the same niclit, to 
lay in ambuscade for them on their march. They fell into it. The completest vic- 
tory was obtained. Above four hundred lay dead on the field, amongst the number 
of whom were almost all the principal movers of rebellion in tliat country." — Letter 
of Colonel Si, Lrger lo General Bur'^oijne, Aug, 11, 1777. 



242 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

upon a lillle hillock, being- advised to select a less exposed situa- 
tion, he replied — " I will face the enemy," Thus, " surrounded 
" by a few men. he continued to issue his orders with firmness. 
" In this situation, and in the heat of the onslaught, he delibe- 
" rately took his tinder-box from his pocket, ht his pipe, and 
" smoked with great composure."* At the moment the soldiers 
were placing him on the htter, while adjusting the blankets to 
the poles, three Indians approached, and were instantly shot 
down by the unerring rifles of three of the militia. These 
were the last shots fired in that battle.t 

The loss of the enemy in this engagement was equally, if 
not more severe, than that of the Americans. The Greens and 
Rangers of Sir John Johnson and Colonel Butler must have 
suffered badly, although no returns were given in the contem- 
poraneous accounts. Major Watts was severely wounded and 
left on the field, as was supposed, among the slain. His death 
was reported by Colonel Willett, in his letter to Governor 
Trumbull, and by other authorities. But such was not the 
fact. Reviving from faintness produced by loss of blood, some 
hours after the action, he succeeded in crawling to a brook, 
where, by slaking his thirst, he was preserved from speedy 
death, and in the course of two or three days was found by 

* Campbell. An officer, who was in tiie general staff at the battle of Leipzig, has 
related to the author a very similar incident in the conduct of old Blucher. He was 
not wounded ; but ho sat upon a hillock, issuing his orders and smoking his pipe, 
while the cannon balls were plouglnng up the earth about him. 

t Narrative of Jacob Sammons, MS. The officers of the Tryon County militia 
killed or wounded in this battle were as follows : — In Colonel Frederick Visscher's 
regiment, Captains John Davis and Samuel Pettingill, killed; Major Blauvelt and 
Lieut. Groat taken prisoners and never heard of afterward ; Captain Jacob Garde- 
nier and Lieut. Samuel Gardcnier wounded. In Colonel Jacob Klock's regiment, 
Major John Eisenlord, and Major Van Sluyck, and Captain Andrew Dillenback, 
killed ; Captains Christopher Fox and John Breadbeg, wounded ; Brigade Major 
John Frey, wounded and taken prisoner. In Colonel Peter Bellinger's regiment, 
Major Enos Klepsatlle, Captain Frederick Helmer, and Lieut. Fetric, were killed. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Bellinger and Henry Walradf were taken prisoners. 
In Colonel Ebenezer Cox's regiment, Colonel Cox and Lieut. Col. Hunt were 
killed ; Captains Henry Diefendorf, and Robert Crouse, and Jacob Bowman, kill- 
ed. Captain Jacob Seeber and Lieut. William Seeber mortally wounded. The 
surgeon, Moses Younglove, was taken prisoner. Among the volunteers not be- 
longing to the militia, who were killed, were Isaac Paris, (then a member of the 
Legislature,) Samuel Billington, John Dygert, and Jacob Sneli, members of the 
Committee of Safety. There was likewise a Captain Graves who fell, but to whicii 
regiment he belonged the author has not ascertained. 



1777.] BATTLE OF ORISKANY. 243 

some Indian scouts, and brought into St. Leger's camp.* But 
the Indians were the most roughly handled, they having lost 
nearly one hundred warriors, several of whom were sachems in 
great favor. Frederick Sammons, who had been detached up- 
on a distant scout previous to the battle, returning some days 
afterward, crossed the battle-field, where, he says — "I beheld 
'• the most shocking sight I had ever witnessed. The Indians 
" and white men were mingled with one another, just as they 
" had been left when death had first completed his work. 
" Many bodies had also been torn to pieces by wild beasts."! 

It has been atfirmed that the Indians were persuaded to join 
in this battle only with great difliculty, and not until they had 
been induced to sacrifice their reason to their appetites. It was 
very manifest that during the action many of them were intox- 
icated. The consequence was, that they suffered more severely 
than ever before.t According to the narrative of Mary Jemison, 
the Indians, (at least the Senecas,) were deceived into the cam- 
paign. " They were sent for to see the British whip the rebels. 
" They were told that they were not wanted to fight, but merely 
" to sit down, smoke their pipes, and look on. The Senecas 
" went to a man ; but, contrary to their expectation, instead of 
" smoking and looking on, they were obliged to fight for their 
' lives ; and in the end of the battle were completely beaten, 
" with a great loss of killed and wound ed."§ 

The whole Indian force was led by Thayendanegea in 

* Tliis statement respecting Major Watts was derived from tlie late Mr. Joha 
Watts, of New-York, iiis brother. As mentioned in the text, St. Leger, in his offi- 
cial report, did not state the number of his own killed and wounded. Colonel But- 
Itr, however, wrote to Sir Guy Carleton — " Of the New-Yorkers, Captain M'Donald 
was killed, Captain Watts dangerously wounded, and one subaltern. Of the Ran- 
gers, Captains Wilson and Hare killed, and one private wounded. The Indians 
suffered much, having thirty-three killed and twenty-nine wounded ; the Senecas lost 
seventeen, among whom were several of their chief warriors, and had sixteen 
wounded. During the whole action the Indians showed the greatest zeal for his 
Majesty's cause ; and had they not been a little too precipitate, scarcely a rebel of 
the party would have escaped. ]Most of the leading rebels are cut off in the aclion, 
so that any farther attempts from that quarter are not to be expected. Captain 
Watts, of the Royal New-Yorkers, whose many amiable qualities deserved a better 
fate, lay wounded in three places upon the field two days befora he was found."-— 
Parliamevtary Register. 

t MS. narrative of Frederick Sammons, in the author's possession. 

I .To nil of General Lincoln. 

§ Life of Mary Jemison. 



244 JAVE OF BRANT. [1777. 

person—" the great Captain of tlie Six Nations," as he was 
then called — and as the Cayugas had now hkewise joined the 
Mohawks in alliance with the arms of England — the Ononda- 
gas adopting a doubtful policy, but always, in fact, acting 
against the Provincials — he must have had a large force in the 
field. Of the Senecas alone thirty-six were killed and a great 
number wounded. Captain Brant was accustomed, long years 
afterward, to speak of the sufferings of his " poor Mohawks " in 
that battle. Indeed, the severity with which they were handled 
on that occasion, rendered them morose and intractable during 
the remainder of the campaign ; and the unhappy prisoners 
were the first to minister with their blood to their resentment.* 
" Our town," says Mary Jemison, " exhibited a scene of real 
" sorrow and distress when our warriors returned and recount- 
" ed their misfortunes, and stated the real loss they had sus- 
" tained in the engagement. The mourning was excessive, 
" and was expressed by the most doleful yells, shrieks, and 
" howlings, and by inimitable gesticulations." 

It was unfortunate that General Herkimer formed his line of 
march with so little judgment that, when attacked, his men 
were in no situation to support each other ; and more unfortu- 
nate still, that he marched at all, so long before he could expect 
to hear the concerted signal for the diversion to be made in 
his favor by the sortie of Colonel Willett. The heavy rain- 
storm, moreover, which caused a suspension of the battle, had 
likewise the effect of delaying the sally for nearly an hour. It 
was made, however, as soon as it was practicable, and was not 
only completely successful, but was conducted with such abili- 
ty and spirit by the gallant officer to whom it was confided, as 



* In Mr. Samuel Woodruff's memoranda of his conversations witli Brant, refer- 
red to in the introduction, it is noted as the admission of the latter, that " he and his 
Mohawks were compelled to flee in a dispersed condition through the woods, all 
suffering from fatigue and hunger before they arrived at a place of safety. Their 
retreat began at nightfall. They were pursued by a body of Oneidas, who fought 
with General Herkimer. The night was dark and lovvery. Exhausted by the la- 
bors of the day, and fearful he might be overtaken by the pursuing Oneidas, Brant 
ascended a branching tree, and planting himself in the crotch of it, waited somewhat 
impatiently for dayUght." There is evidently somewhat of error in this statement. 
The field of battle was not more than five miles from St. Leger's entrenchments, 
and the battle was ended at 2 o'clock P. M. Judge W. probably confoundud this 
battle with another — perhaps tliat of the Chemung. 



1777.] SORTIE OF COLONEL WILLETT. 245 

to win for him the applause of the foe himself.* In addition 
to the two hundred men detailed for this service, under Colo- 
nel Willett's command, as before stated, fifty more were added 
to guard the light iron three pounder already mentioned. With 
these troops, and this his only piece of mounted ordnance, Co- 
lonel Willett lost not a moment, after the cessation of the rain, 
in making the sally. The enemy's sentinels being directly 
in sight of the fort, the most rapid movements were necessary. 
The sentinels were driven in, and his advanced guard attacked, 
before he had time to form his troops. Sir John Johnson, whose 
regiment was not more than two hundred yards distant from 
the advanced guard, it being very warm, was in his tent, di- 
vested of his coat at the moment, and had not time to put it on 
before his camp was assailed. Such, moreover, were the cele- 
rity of Willett's movement and the impetuosity of the attack, 
that Sir John could not bring his troops into order, and their 
only resource was in flight. The Indian encampment was 
next to that of Sir' John, and in turn was carried with equal 
rapidity. The larger portion of the Indians, and a detachment 
from the regiment of Sir John, were, at the very moment of this 
unexpected assault upon their quarters, engaged in the battle 
of Oriskany. Those who were left behind now betook them- 
selves, — Sir John and his men to the river, — and the Indians 
to their natural shelter, the woods — the troops of Colonel Wil- 
lett firing briskly upon them in their flight. The amount of 
spoil found in the enemy's camp was so great, that Willett was 
obliged to send hastily to the fort for waggons to convey it 
away. Seven of these vehicles were three times loaded and 
discharged in the fort, while the brave little Provincial band 
held possession of the encampments. Among the spoils thus 
captured, consisting of camp equipage, clothing, blankets, stores, 
&c. were five British standards, the baggage of Sir John 
Johnson, with all his papers, the baggage of a number of otb^r 
officers, with memoranda, journals, and orderly books, contain- 
ing all the information desirable on the part of the besieged.f 

♦ London Universal Magazine, 1782. 

■f " Among other things taken from the enemy, were srveral bnndle? of papers^ 
and a parcel of letters belonging to our garrison, which they had taken from our 
militia, but not yet opened. Here I found one letter for my.self : there were like- 
wise papers belonging to Sir John Johnson, and several others of the enemy's offi- 



246 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

While Colonel Willett was returning to the fort, Colonel St. 
Leger, who was on the opposite side of the river, attempted a 
movement to intercept him. Willett's position, however, ena- 
bled him to form his troops so as to give the enemy a full fire 
in front, while at the same time he was enfiladed by the fire of 
a small field-piece. The distance was not more than sixty 
yards between them ; and although St. Leger was not back- 
ward in returning the fire, his aim was nevertheless so wild as to 
be entirely without etfect. The assailants returned into the for- 
tress in triumph, without having lost a man — the British flags 
were hoisted on the flag-staff under the American — and the men, 
ascending the parapets, gave three as hearty cheers as were 
ever shouted by the same number of voices. Among the pri- 
soners brought ofll" by the victors, was Lieutenant Singleton, 
of Sir John Johnson's regiment. Several Indians were found 
dead in their camp, and others were killed in crossing the 
river. The loss to the enemy, particularly in stores and bag- 
gage, was great ; while the affair itself was of still more im- 
portance, from the new spirit of patriotic enthusiasm with 
which it inspired the little garrison.* For this chivalrous ex- 
ploit Congress passed a resolution of thanks, and directed the 
Commissary General of military stores to procure an elegant 
sword, and present the same to Colonel Willett in the name of 
the United States. 

General Herkimer did not long survive the battle. He was 
conveyed to his own house t near the Mohawk river, a few 
miles below the Little Falls ; where his leg, which had been 
shattered five or six inches below the knee, was amputated 
about ten days after the battle, by a young French surgeon in 
the army of General Arnold, and contrary to the advice of the 
General's own medical adviser, the late Doctor Petrie. But 
the operation was unskilfully performed,! and it was found im- 

cers, with letters to and from General St. Leger, the commander. These letters 
have been of some service to us." — Colonel Willett's letter to Governor Trumbull. 

* In tliis account of the sortie, the author has adopted almost the very language 
of the brave Colonel himself, in his Narrative. As he led the affair, and was of 
course the best qualified to describe it, the author could do no better than take his 
own words. In tracing the progress of the siege, it will be often necessary to draw 
from the same indisputable source. 

t Yet standing, 1S37. 

t Col. Roff s statement— MS. in possession of the author. 



1777.] DEATH OF GENERAL HERKIMER. 247 

possible by his attendants to stanch the blood. Colonel Wil- 
lett called to see the General soon after the operation. He was 
sitting up in his bed, with a pipe in his mouth, smoking, and 
talking in excellent spirits. He died the night following that 
visit. His friend, Colonel John Roff, was present at the am- 
putation, and affirmed that he bore the operation with uncom- 
mon fortitude. He was likewise with him at the time of his 
death. The blood continuing to flow — there being no physi- 
cian in immediate attendance — and being himself satisfied that 
the time of his departure was nigh, the veteran directed the 
Holy Bible to bo brought to him. He then opened it and read, 
in the presence of those who surrounded his bed, with all the 
composure which it was possible for any man to exhibit, the 
thirty-eighth psalm — applying it to his own situation.* He 
soon afterward expired ; and it may well be questioned whether 
the annals of man furnish a more striking example of Christian 
heroism — calm, deliberate, and firm in the hour of death — than 
is presented in this remarkable instance. Of the early history 
of General Herkimer but little is known. It has been al- 
ready stated that his family was one of the first of the Ger- 
mans who planted themselves in the Mohawk Valley. And 
the massive stone mansion, yet standing at German Flatts, 
bespeaks its early opulence. He was an uneducated man — 
with, if possible, less skill in letters, even than General Put- 
nam, which is saying much. But he was, nevertheless, a 
man of strong and vigorous understanding — destitute of some 
of the essential requisites of generalship, but of the most 
cool and dauntless courage. These traits were all strik- 
ingly disclosed in the brief and bloody expedition to Oriska- 
ny. But he must have been well acquainted with that most 
important of all books — The Bible. Nor could the most 
learned biblical scholar, lay or clerical, have selected a portion 
of the Sacred Scriptures more exactly appropriate to the situa- 
tion of the dying soldier, than that to which he himself spon- 
taneously turned. If Socrates died like a philosopher, and 
Rousseau like an unbelieving sentimentalist. General Herkimer 
died like a Christian Hero. Congress passed a resolution 
requesting the Governor and Council of New- York to erect a 

* Statement of Colonel Roff, in possession of the author. 

36 



248 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

monument, at the expense of the United States, to the memory 
of this brave man, of the value of five hundred dollars. This 
resolution was transmitted to the Governor of New-York, 
George Chnton, in a letter from which the following passage 
is quoted : — " Every mark of distinction shown to the memory 
'' of such illustrious men as offer up their lives for the liberty 
" and happiness of their country, reflects real honor on those 
'• who pay the tribute ; and by holding up to others the pros- 
"pect of fame and immortality, will animate them to tread in 
" the same path." Governor Clinton thus wrote to the Com- 
mittee of Tryon County on the occasion : — " Enclosed you 
" have a letter and resolves of Congress, for erecting a monu- 
"ment to the memory of your late gallant General. While 
" with you I lament the cause, I am impressed with a due 
" sense of the great and justly merited honor the Continent has, 
" in this instance, paid to the memory of that brave man." 
Such were the feelings of respect for the services and memory 
of the deceased entertained by the great men of that day. 
Sixty years have since rolled away, and the journal of Con- 
gress is the only monument, and the resolution itself the only 
inscription, which as yet testify the gratitude of the republic to 
General Nicholas Herkimer. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Siege of Fort Schuyler continued — Forced letter from prisoners to Col. Gansevoort 
— St. Leger summons the garrison to surrender — Refusal of Gansevoort — Appeal 
of Sir John Johnson to the people of Tryon County — Secret expedition of Colonel 
Willett and Major Stock well — Schuyler orders Arnold to the relief of Gansevoort 
— Wjllett proceeds to Albany — Arrest of Walter Butler, and others, at German 
Flatts — Tried and convicted as a spj- — Reprieved — Sent to Albany — Escapes — 
Arnold's proclamation — Advance of the besiegers — Uneasiness of the garrison — 
Sudden flight of St. Leger and his forces — Stratagem of Arnold — Story of Hon- 
Yost Schuyler — Merriment and mischief of the Indians — Arrival of Arnold at the 
Fort — The spoils of victory — Public estimation of Gansevoort's services — Ad- 
dress to his soldiers — His promotion — Address of his officers. 

Though in fact defeated at Oriskany, the enemy claimed, as 
we have seen, a victory. In one sense, it is true, the achieve- 
ment was theirs. They had prevented the advance of the 
Americans to the succor of the fort ; and on their retreat the 
Americans were unable to pursue. Still the field was won, 
and retained by them.* Availing- himself of his questionable 
success, however, and well knowing- that days must probably 
elapse before the garrison could become apprised of the whole 
circumstances of the engagement and its issue, St. Leger lost 
no time in endeavoring, by false representations, to press the 
besieged to a capitulation. On the same night of the battle, 
therefore, at 9 o'clock. Colonel Bellinger and Major Frey, being 
in St. Leger's camp as prisoners, were compelled to address a 
note to Colonel Gansevoort, greatly exaggerating the disasters 
of the day, and strongly urging a surrender. In this letter 
they spoke of the defeat at Oriskany, of the impossibility of 
receiving any farther succor from below — of the formidable 
force of St. Leger, together with his train of artillery — an- 
nounced the probable fact that Burgoyne and his army were 
then before Albany, and stated that longer resistance would 
only result in " inevitable ruin and destruction."t The letter 

* It was alleged, in some of the contemporaneous accounts, that the forces en- 
gaged with Herkimer were ordered back in consequence of the sortie of Willett, 
That circumstance, however, does not alter the essential facts of the case. The 
victory was the same. 

t See Appendix, No. V. for a copy of this letter, written while under duress. 



250 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

was transmitted to Colonel Gansevoort by St. Leger's Adjutant- 
general, Colonel Butler, who, in delivering it, made a verbal 
demand of surrender. Colonel Gansevoort replied that he 
would give no answer to a verbal summons, unless delivered 
by Colonel St. Leger himself, but at the mouth of his cannon. 

On the following day a white flag approached the garrison, 
with a request that Colonel Butler, and. two other officers, 
might be admitted into the fort as bearers of a message to the 
commanding officer. Permission being granted, those officers 
were conducted blind-folded into the fort, and received by 
Colonel Gansevoort in his dining-room. The windows of the 
room were shut, and candles lighted ; a table was also spread, 
upon which were placed some slight refreshments. Colonels 
Willett and Mellen were present at the interview, together with 
as many of the American officers as could be accommodated in 
the quarters of their commander. After the officers were 
seated and the wine had been passed around, Major Ancrom, 
one of the messengers, addressed Colonel Gansevoort in sub- 
stance as follows : — 

" I am directed by Colonel St. Leger, the officer commanding 
the army now investing this garrison, to inform the command- 
ant that the Colonel has, with much difficulty, prevailed on the 
Indians to ag^ee, thatif the garrison, without farther resistance, 
shall be delivered up, with the public stores belonging to it, to 
the investing army, the officers and soldiers shall have all their 
baggage and private property secured to them. And in order 
that the garrison may have a sufficient pledge to this effect, 
Colonel Butler accompanies me to assure them, that not a hair 
of the head of any one of them shall be hurt." (Here turning 
to Colonel Butler, he said, ' That, I think, was the expression 
they made use of, was it not?' — to which the Colonel answered, 
' Yes.') " I am likewise directed to remind the commandant, 
that the defeat of General Herkimer must deprive the garrison 
of all hopes of relief, especially as General Burgoyne is now in 
Albany ; so that, sooner or later, the fort must fall into our 
hands. Colonel St. Leger, from an earnest desire to prevent 
farther bloodshed, hopes these terms will not be refused ; as in 
this case it will be out of his power to make tliem again. It 
was with great difficulty the Indians consented to the present 
arrangement, as it will deprive them of that plunder which 



1777.] SIEGE OF FORT SCHUYLER. 251 

they always calculate upon on similar occasions. Should, then, 
the present terms be rejected, it will be out of the power of the 
Colonel to restrain the Indians, who are very numerous and 
much exasperated, not only from plundering the property, but 
destroying the lives, probably, of the greater part of the garri- 
son. Indeed, the Indians are so exceedingly provoked and 
mortified by the losses they have sustained in the late actions, 
having had several of their favorite chiefs killed, that they 
threaten — and the Colonel, if the present arrangements should 
not be entered into, will not be able to prevent them from exe- 
cuting their threats — to march down the country, and destroy 
the settlement, with its inhabitants. In this case, not only men, 
but women and children, will experience the sad effects of 
their vengeance. These considerations, it is ardently hoped, 
will produce a proper effect, and induce the commandant, by 
complying with the terms now offered, to save himself from fu- 
ture regret, when it will be too late," 

This singular oration was of course delivered extempora- 
neously, as also was the following reply by Colonel Willett, 
with the approbation of Colonel Gansevoort : — 

" Do I understand you, Sir ? I think you say, that you 
come from a British colonel, who is commander of the army 
that invests this fort ; and by your uniform, you appear to be 
an officer in the British service. You have made a long speech 
on the occasion of your visit, which, stripped of all its superflui- 
ties, amounts to this — that you come from a British colonel, to 
the commandant of this garrison, to tell him, that if he does 
not deliver up the garrison into the hands of your Colonel, he 
will send his Indians to murder our women and children. 
You will please to reflect, sir, that their blood will be on your 
head, not on ours. We are doing our duty : this garrison is 
committed to our charge, and we will take care of it. After 
you get out of it, you may turn round and look at its outside, 
but never expect to come in again, unless you come a prisoner. 
I consider the message you have brought, a degrading one for 
a British officer to send, and by no means reputable for a Bri- 
tish officer to carry. For my own part, I declare, before I 
would consent to deliver this garrison to such a murdering set 
as your array, by your own account, consists of, I would suffer 
my body to be filled with splinters, and set on fire, as you know 



252 LIFE OF BUANT. [1777. 

has at times been practised, by such hordes of women and 
children killers as belong to your army." 

Colonel Willett observes in his narrative, whence these facts 
are drawn, that in the delivery he looked the British major 
full in the face ; and that he spoke with emphasis is not doubt- 
ed. The sentiments contained in this reply were received with 
universal applause by the Provincial officers, who, far from 
being intimidated by the threats of the messengers, were at 
once impressed with the idea that such pressing efforts to in- 
duce a capitulation could only be the effect of doubt, on the 
part of the enemy himself, of his ability either to sustain the 
siege or carry the works by assault. Before the interview was 
closed, Major Ancrom requested that an English surgeon who 
was with him might be permitted to visit the British wounded 
in the garrison, which request was granted. Major Ancrom 
also proposed an armistice for three days, which was likewise 
agreed to by Colonel Gansevoort — the more readily, probably, 
because of his scanty supply of ammunition. 

On the 9th of August, Colonel Gansevoort having refused 
to recognize any verbal messages from the British commander, 
Colonel St. Leger transmitted the substance of Major Ancrom's 
speech in the form of a letter — protesting that no indignity was 
intended by the delivery of such a message — a message that 
had been insisted upon categorically by the Indians — and for- 
mally renewing the summons of a surrender — adding, that the 
Indians were becoming exceedingly impatient, and if the pro- 
position should be rejected, the refusal would be attended with 
very fatal consequences, not only to the garrison, but to the 
whole country of the Mohawk river.* 

The reply of Colonel Gansevoort was written with soldierly 
brevity, in the following words : — 

COL. GANSEVOORT TO COL. ST. LEGER. 

" Fort Schuyler, Aug. 9th, 1777. 
"Sir, 
" Your letter of this day's date I have received, in answer to 
which I say, that it is my determined resolution, with the forces 
under my command, to defend this fort to the last extremity, in 

♦ See Appendix, No. VI. 



1777.] SECRET EXPEDITION OF WILLETT. 253 

behalf of the United American States, who have placed me 
here to defend it against all their enemies. 

'• I have the honor to be, Sir, 

" Your most ob't. humble serv't., 

" Peter Gansevoort, 
" Col. commanding Fort Schuyler. 
" Gen. Barry St. Leger^-* 

Failing in these attempts to induce a surrender, the besiegers, 
four days afterward, had recourse to another expedient. It 
was the issuing of an appeal to the inhabitants of Tryon 
County, signed by Sir John Johnson, Colonel Claus, and Colo- 
nel John Butler, similar in its tenor to the verbal and written 
messages of St. Leger to Colonel Gansevoort. The appeal 
commenced with strong protestations of a desire for the restora- 
tion of peace, with a promise of pardon, and oblivion for the 
past, notwithstanding the many and great injuries the signers 
had received, upon a proper submission by the people. They, 
too. were threatened with the ravages of a victorious army, and 
the resentment of the Indians for the losses they had sustained 
at Oriskany, in the event of rejecting this appeal. In regard 
to the garrison of Fort Schuyler, its longer resistance was pro- 
nounced " mulish obstinacy," and the people of the Mohawk 
Valley were urged to send up a deputation of their principal 
men, to oblige the garrison to do at once what they must be 
forced to do soon — surrender. If they did not surrender, the 
threat was again repeated that every soul would be put to death 
by the Indians. t Messengers were despatched with this docu- 
ment into Tryon County, but to no good purpose ; while, as 
will soon appear, some of those messengers were involved in 
serious difficulty by their errand. 

But if Colonel Willett's success in the brilliant execution of 
the sortie on the 6th, entitled him, as it unquestionably did, to 
the commendations he received, a still more perilous enterprise, 
undertaken by him a few days afterward, was thought, alike by 
friends and foes, to entitle him to still greater applause. The 

♦ Copied, by the author, from tlie original draft, found among tlie Gansevoort 
papers. 

t See Appendix, No. VII. I have found this document only in The Remem- 
braucer for 1777, page 451. 



254 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

artillery of the besiegers was not sufficiently heavy to make any 
impression upon the works, and there was every probability that 
the garrison might hold out until succors should be obtained, 
could their situation be made known. Colonel Willett was not 
only well acquainted, but exceedingly popular, in Tryon Coun- 
ty ; and it was supposed that, should he show himself personally 
among the militia of that district, notwithstanding the extent of 
their suffering in the late expedition, he might yet rally a force 
sufficient to raise the siege. The bold project was therefore 
conceived by him of passing by night, in company with ano- 
ther officer, through the enemy's works, and, regardless of the 
danger from the prowling savages, making his way through 
some forty or fifty miles of sunken morasses and pathless woods, 
in order to raise the County and bring relief* Selecting Major 
Stockwell for his companion. Colonel Willett undertook the 
expedition on the 10th, and left the fort at ten o'clock that 
night, each armed with nothing but a spear, and provided only 
with a small supply of crackers and cheese, a small canteen of 
spirits, and in all other respects unincumbered, even by a 
blanket. Having escaped from the sally-port, they crept upon 
their hands and knees along the edge of a morass to the river, 
which they crossed by crawling over upon a log, and succeeded 
in getting off unperceived by the sentinels of the enemy, 
although passing very near to them. Their first advance was 
into a deep-tangled forest in which, enveloped in thick darkness, 
thfey lost their direction, and found it impossible to proceed. 
While in this state of uncertainty, the barking of a dog added 
little to their comfort, inasmuch as it apprized them that they were 
not far from a new Indian encampment, formed subsequent 
to the sortie a few days before. They were therefore compelled 
to stand perfectly still for several hours, and until the morning 
star appeared to guide their way. Striking first in a Northern di- 
rection for several miles, and then Eastwardly, they traced a 
2ig-zag course, occasionally adopting the Indian method of con- 
cealing their trail by walking in the channels of streams, and 
by stepping on stones along the river's edge. In this way they 
travelled the whole of the ensuing day without making a single 
halt. On the approach of night they dared not to strike a light, 

* British Universal Magazine. 



1777.] EXPEDITION OP ARNOLD. 255 

but lay down to sleep, interlocked in each other's arms. Pur- 
suinor their journey on the 12th, their little stock of provisions 
being exhausted, they fed upon raspberries and blackberries, of 
which they found an abundance in an opening occasioned by a 
windfall. Thus refreshed, they pushed forward with renewed 
vigor and at an accelerated pace, and arrived at Fort Dayton 
at three o'clock in the afternoon.* 

The Colonel and his friend received a hearty welcome from 
Colonel Weston, whose regiment was then in charge of Fort 
Dayton, and from whom he obtained the agreeable intelligence 
that, on learning the news of General Herkimer's disaster. Ge- 
neral Schuyler had ordered Generals Arnold and Larned, with 
the Massachusetts brigade, to march to the relief of Colonel 
Gansevoort. Colonel Willett thereupon took horse immediately 
for Albany to meet General Arnold, who was to command the 
expedition ; and in four days afterward accompanied Arnold 
back to Fort Dayton, where the troops were assembling. The 
first New- York regiment had been added to the brigade of 
General Larned, who was yet in the rear, bringing up the heavy 
baggage and stores. 

During Willett's brief absence to Albany, an incident occur- 
red in the neighborhood of Fort Dayton, showing that if he had 
been active in his attempts to bring succors to the fort, the enemy, 
on the other hand, had not been idle. About two miles above 
Fort Dayton resided a Mr. Shoemaker, a disaffected gentleman, 
who had been in his Majesty's commission of the peace. Hav- 
ing heard of a clandestine meeting of Tories at the house of 
that gentleman, Colonel Weston despatched a detachment of 
troops thither, which came upon the assemblage by surprise, 
and took them all prisoners. Among them was Lieutenant 
Walter N. Butler, from St. Leger's army, who, with fourteen white 
soldiers and the same number of Indians,! had visited the Ger- 
man Flatts secretly, with the appeal of Sir John Johnson, 
Claus, and the elder Butler, referred to in a preceding page, for 
the purpose of persuading the timid and disaffected inhabitants 
to abandon the Provincial cause, and enrol themselves with the 

• " So successful was Colonel Willett in all his movements, that the Indians, be- 
lieving him to be possessed of supernatuial power, gave to him the name of the 
Devil." — Campbell. 

t The Remembrancer for 1777, page 395. 

37 



256 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

King's army before Fort Schuyler. Butler was in the midst 
of his harangue to the meeting at the moment of the unwelcome 
surprise. General Arnold ordered a court-martial, and caused 
him to be tried as a spy.* Of this tribunal Colonel Willett 
officiated as Judge Advocate. The Lieutenant was convicted, 
and received sentence of death; but at the intercession of a 
number of officers, who had known him while a student at law 
in Albany, his life was spared by a reprieve. He was, however, 
removed to Albany and closely imprisoned until the Spring of 
the following year. When General the Marquis de Lafayette 
assumed the command of the Northern department, the friends 
of the Butler family, in consequence, as it was alleged, of his 
ill-health, interceded for a mitigated form of imprisonment. 
He was then removed to a private house and kept under guard, 
but shortly afterward effected his escape — owing, it was report- 
ed, to treachery — and was subsequently distinguished as one 
of the severest scourges of the beautiful valley which had given 
him birth. 

The address of Johnson. Glaus, and Butler, having been 
thus introduced among the people of the County, Arnold issued 
a proclamation from Fort Dayton for the purpose of counter- 
acting its influence. It was couched in severe language in re- 
gard to St. Leger and his heterogeneous army — denounced 
those of the people who might be seduced by his arts to enrol 
themselves mider the banner of the king — but promised pardon 
to all, whether Americans, Savages, Germans, or Britons, who 
might return to their duty to the States.t 

Meantime Colonel St. Leger was pushing his operations be- 
fore the fort with considerable vigor. Every effort to intimi- 
date the garrison having failed, and the commander exhibiting 
an unsubmitting spirit, St. Leger " commenced approaching 
" by sap. and had formed two parallels, the second of which 
" brought him near the edge of the glacis ; but the fire of mus- 
" ketry from the covert way rendered his farther progress very 
" difficult."! The fire of his ordnance producing no eifect, his 
only means of annoying the garrison was by throwing shells ; 

* The Remembrancer states that Butler came "on a truce to the inhabitants of 
the County." But if he did bear a flag, it could be no protection for sxich a missioa 
— as it was not. 

t Sec Appendix, No. VIII. t Willett's Narrative. 



1777.] RAISING OF THE SIEGE. 257 

but these proved of so little consequence as to afiord a discou- 
raging prospect of success. Having advanced, however, within 
one hundred and fifty yards, it is not to be denied that some 
uneasiness began to be manifested within the garrison. Igno- 
rant of the fate of Colonel Willett and Major Stockwell, and 
entirely cut off from all communication from without, their 
provisions daily exhausting, and having no certain prospect of 
relief, some of the officers commenced speaking in whispers of 
the expediency of saving the garrison from a re-enactment of 
the Fort William Henry tragedy, by acceding to St. Leger's 
proffered terms of capitulation. Not so the commander. After 
weighing well the circumstances of the case, he came to the 
deliberate resolve, in the event of obtaining no succor from with- 
out, when his provisions were about exhausted, to make a sally 
at night, and cut his way through the encampment of the be- 
siegers, or perish in the attempt. 

Fortunately, the necessity of executing the bold determina- 
tion did not arrive. The siege had continued until the 22d of 
August, when, suddenly, without any cause within the know- 
ledge of the garrison, the besiegers broke up their encampment, 
and retired in such haste and confusion as to leave their tents, 
together with a great part of their artillery, camp equipage, and 
baggage behind. What was the motive for this unexpected 
flight of a vaunting and all but victorious foe, was a problem 
they were unable to solve within the garrison, although their 
joy was not, on that account, the less at their deliverance. It 
subsequently appeared that the panic which produced this wel- 
come and unexpected change in the situation of the garrison, 
was caused by a ruse-de-guerre, practised upon the forces ot 
St. Leger by General Arnold, who had been waiting at Fort 
Dayton several days for the arrival of reinforcements and sup- 
plies.* But, having heard that St. Leger had made his ap- 

* "I wrote you, the 21st instant, from German Flatts, that from the best intelli- 
gence I could procure of the enemy's strength, it was much superior to our's ; at 
the same time I inclosed you a copy of the resolutions of a council of war, and re- 
quested you to send me a reinforcement of one thousand light troops." — Letter of 
Arnold to General Gates, Axig- 23, 1777. — " I have been retarded by the badness of 
the roads, waiting for some baggage and ammunition, and for tiie militia, who did 
not turn out with that spirit which! expected. They are now joining me in great 
numbers. A few days will relieve you." — MS. letter from Arnold to Colonel Gcnise- 
voort, Aus- 22, 1777. 



258 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

proaches to within a short distance of the fort, Arnold, on the 
22d of August, determined at all events to push forward and 
hazard a battle, rather than see the garrison fall a sacrifice.* 
With this view, on the morning of the 23d, he resumed his 
march for Fort Schuyler, and had proceeded ten miles of the 
distance from Fort Dayton when he was met by an express 
from Colonel Gansevoort, with the gratifying intelligence that 
the siege had been raised. The cause of this sudden movement 
was yet as great a mystery to the Colonel and his garrison, as 
was the flight of the host of Ben-hadad from before Samaria to 
the king of Israel, when the Syrian monarch heard the super- 
natural sound of chariots, and the noise of horses, in the days 
of Elisha the prophet. Arnold was, of course, less in the dark. 
The circumstances were these : — 

Among the party of Tories and Indians captured at Shoe- 
maker's under Lieutenant Butler, was a singular being named 
HoN-YosT Schuyler. His place of residence was near the 
Little Falls, where his mother and a brother named Nicholas, 
were then residing. Hon- Yost Schuyler was one of the 
coarsest and most ignorant men in the valley, appearing scarce 
half removed from idiocy ; and yet there was no small share of 
shrewdness in his character. Living upon the extreme border 
of civilization, his associations had been more with the Indians 
than the whites ; and tradition avers that they regarded him 
with that mysterious reverence and awe with which they are 
inspired by fools and lunatics. Thus situated and thus con- 
stituted, Hon-Yost had partially attached himself to the Royalist 
cause, though probably, like the Cow-boys of Wesi Chester, he 
really cared little which party he served or plundered ; and 
had he been the captor of the unfortunate Andre, would have 
balanced probabilities as to the best way of turning the prize to 
account. Be these things, however, as they may, Hon-Yost 
was captured, with Walter Butler, and, like him, was tried for 
his life, adjudged guilty, and condemned to death. His mother 
and brother, hearing of his situation, hastened to Fort Dayton, 
and implored General Arnold to spare his life. The old wo- 
man strongly resembled the gipsey in her character, and the 
eloquence and pathos with which she pleaded for the life of her 

* Letter above cited from Arnold to General Gates. Vide Remembrancer, 1777, 
page 444. 



1777.] STORY OF HON-YOST SCHUYLER. 259 

son, were lono^ remembered in the unwritten history of the 
Mohawk Valley. Arnold was for a time inexorable, and the 
woman became almost frantic with grief and passion on account 
of her wayward son. Nicholas, likewise, exerted himself to the 
utmost in behalf of his brother. At length General Arnold 
proposed terms upon which his life should be spared. The 
conditions were, that Hon- Yost should hasten to Fort Schuyler, 
and so alarm the camp of St. Leger as to induce him to raise 
the siege and fly. The convict-traitor gladly accepted the 
proposition, and his mother offered herself as a hostage for the 
faithful performance of his commission. Arnold, however, 
declined receiving the woman as a hostage, preferring and in- 
sisting that Nicholas should be retained for that purpose. To 
this the latter readily assented, declaring that he was perfectly 
willing to pledge his life that Hon-Yost would fulfil his engage- 
ments to the utmost. Nicholas was, therefore, placed in con- 
finement, while Hon-Yost departed for the camp of Colonel St, 
Leger — having made an arrangement with one of the Oneida 
Indians, friendly to the Americans, to aid him in the enterprise. 
Before his departure several shots were fired through Schuyler's 
clothes, that he might appear to have had a narrow escape ; and 
the Oneida Indian, by taking a circuitous route to Fort Schuy- 
ler, was to fall into the enemy's camp from another direction, 
and aid Hon-Yost in creating the panic desired. The emissary 
first presented himself among the Indians, who were in a very 
suitable state of mind to be wrought upon by exactly such a 
personage. They had been moody and dissatisfied ever since 
the battle of Oriskany — neither the success nor the plunder 
promised them had been won, and they had previously received 
some vague and indefinite intelligence respecting the approach 
of Arnold. They had likewise just been holding a pow-wow, 
or were actually convened in one, for the purpose of consulting 
the Manitto touching the dubious enterprise in which they 
were engaged, when Hon-Yost arrived. Knowing their cha- 
racter well, he communicated his intelligence to them in the 
most mysterious and imposing manner. Pointing to his riddled 
garments, he proved to them how narrow had been his escape 
from the approaching army of the rebels. When asked the 
number of the troops that Arnold was leading against them, 
he shook his head mysteriously, and pointed upward to the 



260 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

leaves of the trees. Tlie reports spread rapidly through the 
camps, and reaching the ears of the commander, Hon-Yost was 
sent for to the tent of St. Leger himself Here he was inter- 
rogated, and gave information that General Arnold, with two 
thousand men, was so near that he would be upon them within 
twenty-four hours. He gave St. Leger a pitiable narrative of 
his captivity, trial, and condemnation to the gallows. It was 
while on his way to execution, as he alleged, that, finding him- 
self not very closely guarded, he took an opportunity to effect 
his escape — thinking, at the worst, that he could only die, and 
it would be as well to be shot as hanged. A shower of bullets 
had indeed been let fly at him, but fortunately had only wound- 
ed his clothes, as the General might see.* Meantime the 
Oneida messenger arrived with a belt, and confirmed to the In- 
dians all that Schuyler had said ; adding, that the Americans 
had no desire to injure the Indians, and were intent only upon 
attacking the British troops and rangers. While making his 
way to the camp of the besiegers, the ingenious Oneida had 
fallen in with some two or three straggling Indians of his ac- 
quaintance, to whom he communicated his business, and whose 
assistance in furthering the design he engaged. These saga- 
cious fellows dropped into the Indian camp at different points, 
and threw out alarming suggestions — shaking their heads 
mysteriously, and insinuating that a bird had brought them in- 
telligence of great moment.f They spoke of warriors in great 
numbers advancing rapidly upon them, and used every indirect 
metliod of infusing a panic into the minds of the listeners who 
gathered around them. The Indians presently began to give 
signs of decamping, and St. Leger assayed in vain to reassure 
them. -He convened a council of their chiefs, hoping that by 
the influence of Sir John JoHnson, and Colonels Claus and 
Butler, he should still be able to retain them. Other re- 
ports, of a yet more terrifying tendency, getting afloat, not only 
among the Indians but in the other camp, the former declared 
that " the pow-wow said they must go ;" and a portion of them 
took their departure before the council broke up. The result 
was a general and precipitate flight. It has been stated, that in 



• Remembrancer, for 1777 — p. 447-443. 

t Travels of President Dwighl, vol. iii. p. 195-197. 



1777.] MERRIMENT OF THE INDIANS. 261 

the commencement of the retreat the Indians made themselves 
merry at the expense of their white allies, by raising a shont 
that the Americans were upon them, and then laughing at the 
groundless terror thus created.* According to the account de- 
rived by Gordon from the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, an altercation 
took place between Colonel St. Leger and Sir John Johnson, the 
former reproaching the latter with the defection of the Indians, 
while the Baronet charged his commander with but an indif- 
ferent prosecution of the siege. It was in the gray of twilight, 
when a couple of sachems, standing upon a little eminence not 
far in the rear, and overhearing the interchange of sharp words 
between them, put an end to the unpleasant colloquy by raising 
the shout — ^^ they are coming! — thcij are coming P^ Both 
St. Leger and Sir John recommenced their retreat with all 
possible expedition upon hearing such an alarm. Their troops 
were equally nimble of foot on the occasion, throwing away 
their knapsacks and arms, and disencumbering themselves of 
every hindrance to the quick-step ; while the Indians, enjoying 
the panic and confusion, repeated the joke by the way until 
they arrived at the Oneida Lake. It is believed, however, that 
it was not the Americans alone of whom St. Leger began to 
stand in fear, being quite as apprehensive of danger from his 
own dusky allies as he was of the approaching army of Arnold. 
There is British authority for stating that the Indians actually 
plundered several of the boats belonging to their own army ; 
robbing the officers of whatsoever they liked. Within a few 
miles of the camp, they first stripped off the arms, and afterward 
murdered, with their own bayonets, all those British, German, 
and American soldiers who were separated from the main 
body.t Thus were the threats of savage vengeance sent by 
Colonel St. Leger to the garrison, in some degree wreaked 

* Travels of President Dwight, vol. iii. p. 195-197. 

t British Universal Magazine. Indeed, St. Leger's report of this disastrous re- 
treat, addressed to General Burgoyne from Oswego, on the 27th of August, cor- 
responds very closely with the American accounts whence the present narrative has 
been drawn. He states that the Indians fell treacherously upon their friends, and 
became more formidable than the enemy they had to expect. He leaves no room, 
however, to suppose that there was any difficulty between Sir John Johnson and 
himself— calling him " his gallant coadjutor," &c. and commending his exertions to 
induce the Indians again to meet the enemy, as also those of Colonels Claus and 
Butler. 



262 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

upon his own army. Hon-Yost Schuyler accompanied the 
flying host to the estuary of Wood Creek, where he deserted, 
threading his way back to Fort Schuyler the same evening — 
imparting to Colonel Gansevoort his first information of the 
advance of Arnold.* From Fort Schuyler, Hon-Yost proceeded 
bacl^ to the German Flatts. On presenting himself at Fort 
Dayton, his brother was discharged, to the inexpressible joy of 
his mother and their relatives. But he proved a Tory in grain, 
and embraced the tirst opportunity subsequently presented, 
which was in October, of running away to the enemy, with 
several of his neighbors, and attaching himself to the forces of 
Sir John Johnson, t 

Immediately on the receipt of Colonel Gansevoort's despatch 
announcing St. Leger's retreat. General Arnold pushed for- 
ward a detachment of nine hundred men, with directions, if 
possible, to overtake the fugitives, and render their flight still 
more disastrous. On the day following, Arnold himself arrived 
at the fort, where he was received with a salute of artillery and 
the cheers of the brave garrison. He, of course, found that 
Gansevoort had anticipated his design of harassing the rear of 
the flying enemy, and had brought in several prisoners, together 
with large quantities of spoilt So great was their panic, and 
such the precipitancy of their flight, that they left their tents 
standing, their provisions, artillery, ammunition, their entire 
camp equipage, and large quantities of other articles enhancing 
the value of the booty. § 

Thus ended the siege of Fort Schuyler, or Fort Stanwix, as 
the public have always preferred calling it. St. Leger hastened 
with his scattered forces back to Oswego, and thence to Mon- 
treal. From that post he proceeded to Lake Champlain, pass- 
ing up the same to Ticonderoga, for the purpose of joining the 
army of Burgoyne. Finding that the enemy had evacuated the 
country between the fort and Lake Ontario, and that the post 
could be in no immediate danger from that direction, Colonel 

* Letter of Colonel Gansevoort to General Arnold. 

t After the close of the contest, Hon-Yost returned to the Mohawk Valley, and 
resided there until his death — which event occurred about twenty years since. 

t Letter of Arnold to General Gates, Aug. 24, 1777. 

§ Among other articles was the escritoire of St. Leger himself, containing his pri- 
vate papers, several of which have been used by the author in writing this and the 
preceding chapters. 



1777-] PROMOTION OF IJANSKVOOIIT. 263 

Gansevoort took the opportunity of visiting liis friends at Alba- 
ny, and at the seat of the State g-overnment, then just organised 
at Kingston. His reception was most cordial, as appears not 
only from contemporaneous accounts, but from the following' 
modest address to his fellow-soldiers of the garrison, on his re- 
turn to resume his command : — 

" I should be wanting in justice to you, if I did not give some 
testimony of your good conduct during the time you have been 
in this garrison, and especially while we were besieged by the 
enemy. Believe me, that I am impressed with a proper sense 
of the behavior by which you have done essential service to 
your country, and acquired immortal honor to yourselves. 
Nothing can equal the pleasure I have experienced since my 
absence, in hearing and receiving the public approbation of our 
country for our services, which is, and must be, to every sol- 
dier, a fall and ample compensation for the same. Permit me 
to congratulate you upon the success of the American arms, 
both to the Southward and Northward. Every day terminates 
with victory to America ; and I make not the least doubt, but 
in this campaign we shall effectually establish the Indepen- 
dence of the United States, and thereby secure to ourselves the 
rights and liberties for which we have so nobly stood forth."* 

As an evidence of the value placed upon the services of the 
Colonel in the defence of Fort Schuyler, he was shortly after- 
ward promoted in the State line to the rank of Brigadier Gene- 
ral, while his gallantry was farther rewarded by a Colonel's 
commission from Congress in the army of the United States.f 

* Copied by the author from the original manuscript. It was filed away among 
the Colonel's papers, with the following inscription : — " A laconic address to my fel- 
low officers and soldiers after our success at Fort Stanwix." 

I There seems to have been something peculiar and special in this commission. 
In a letter which Colonel Gansevoort wrote jointly to William Duer and Gouver- 
neur Morris, a copy of which is preserved among his papers, he observes : — "Con- 
gress have donemetlie honor of appointing me Colonel Commandant of Fort Schuy- 
ler. I should esteem it as a favor if you would inform me whether I am to receive 
any pay for that commission, other than as Colonel of the third regiment of New- 
Yorkers ; and if not, I should be glad if you would endeavor to get something al- 
lowed me, as my present pay will not reimburse my table liquors, which you may 
well conceive to be something considerable as commanding officer. I am not solici- 
tous to make money by my commission ; but I could wish not to sink by it, as I am 
obliged to do now. The commission which Congress has sent me as commandant 
of Fori Schuyler, subjects me as much to the command of my superior officers^, as 

38 



264 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

On leaving his regiment, its officers presented hini with an af- 
fectionate letter of congratulation on his promotion, mingled 
with an expression of their regret at the loss to the regiment of 
"so worthy a patron." To which the Colonel returned an 
appropriate letter of thanks.* The people of Tryon County 
were of course rejoiced, that the blow, directed, as the enemy 
supposed, with unerring certainty against them, had been avert- 
ed. They had suffered severely in the campaign ; but there 
were enough of her sons yet left to swell the ranks of General 
Gates not a little ; and they pressed ardently to join his standard, 
although circumstances did not then require them long to re- 
main in the field. 

In October following, when Sir Henry Clinton was ascending 
the Hudson for the purpose either of succoring, or of co-ope- 
rating with, Burgoyne, Colonel Gansevoort was ordered to 
Albany by General Gates, to take command of the large force 
then concentrating at that place. Happily, as will appear in 
the succeeding chapters, there was no occasion to test his 
prowess in his new and temporary command. 

any former one. If that was the intention of Congress, the appointment is nugatory. 
If not, I wish Congress to alter the commission." 

* The following is a copy of the address referred to in the text : — "Honored Sir ; 
From a just sense of that conduct which has hitherto been so conspicuously shown 
to advance the third New- York regiment to honor and public notice, we congratu- 
late you that those characteristics which so eminently point out the gentleman and 
soldier, have by your personal bravery been deservedly noticed by our bleeding coun- 
try. Although we rejoice at your promotion, yet we cannot but regret the loss of so 
worthy a patron. That the prosperity which has crowned your conduct with victory 
may still be continued, is the sincere wish and prayer of, honored Sir, your most 
obedient and very humble servants." It was signed by twenty-six officers. Colonel 
Gansevoort replied as follows : — " Gentlemen : Your polite address on my promo- 
tion merits my sincerest thanks. Gratitude, I hope, shall never be wanting in me 
to the third N. Y. regiment, who have, by tlieir firmness and discipline, been the 
chief authors of my promotion. Therefore, Gentlemen, please to accept my warmest 
wishes for the prosperity of the corps, that all their virtuous endeavors in the defence 
of their bleeding country may be crowned with honor and success, which will always 
be the earnest prayer of, Gentlemen, your most obliged, humble servant." 



CHAPTER XII. 

Recurrence to the invasion of Burgoync — General Schuyler again superseded by 
Gates — Causes of Uiis injustice — Battle of Stillwater — Botli armies entrench — 
Battle and victory of Behmus's Heights — Funeral of General Frazer — Retreat of 
Burgoyne — Difficulties increasing upon him — His capitulation — Meeting of Bur- 
goyne and Gates— Deportment of Gates toward Gen. Washington— Noble con- 
duct of General Schuyler. 

The temporary pacification of the Western part of the 
State, resulting from the events of which we have just closed 
the narrative, affords an opportunity for recurring to the inva- 
sion of Burgoyne, who was left in the mid career of victory, 
checked, it is true, by unexpected and increasing difficulties, 
until brought to a stand by the serious affair of Bennington, 
heretofore incidentally disposed of. On shifting the scene, 
however, from the head waters of the Mohawk to the upper 
districts of the Hudson, General Gates is again found in com- 
mand of the Northern Department— General Schuyler, to 
whose wise measures and indefatigable exertions the country 
was mainly indebted for arresting the progress of Burgoyne, 
and during whose command the victory of Bennington had 
been won by General Stark — having been most unjustly su- 
perseded by express resolution of Congress. There had, during 
the present year, been a very unwise, unworthy, and capricious 
interference, on the part of Congress, with the command of this 
department. On the 25th of March, without a reason assigned. 
General Gates had superseded General Schuyler, his superior 
officer, by order of Congress ; and on the 22d of May, without 
any expressed motive. General Schuyler was restored to the 
command of that department.* Again, on the 1st of August, it 
was resolved by Congress that General Schuyler should repair 
to head-quarters, while the Commander-in-chief was, by the 
same resolution, directed to order such general officer as he 
should think proper, to assume the command in Schuyler's 
place. The day after the passage of that resolution, General 
Washington received a letter from the New England delegation 
in Congress, suggesting the name of General Gates, as the offi- 

♦ Memoirs of General Wilkinson, vol. i. p. IG-*. 



266 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

cer who would be most likely to restore harmony, order, and 
discipline, and to relieve our affairs in that quarter.* We have, 
in a former chapter, referred to the prejudices existing against 
General Schuyler, and the causes of them. These had now 
become so strong, and the Eastern States, in particular, were 
so hostile to his longer continuance in the command, that even 
his friends acquiesced in the expediency, though not in the 
justice, of his removal.t General Schuyler himself, however, felt 
acutely the discredit of being recalled at the most critical and 
interesting period of the campaign ; when the labor and activity 
of making preparations to repair the disasters of it had been 
expended by him ; and when an opportunity was offered, as he 
observed, for that resistance and retaliation which might brmg 
glory upon our arms.J 

The Commander-in-chief paid no heed to the advisory epistle 
from the New England delegates, but in a respectful letter to 
the President of Congress, declined the honor of making the 
selection. § Had he not thus excused himself, it is not presump- 

* Sparks's Life and Cor. of Washington, vol. v. p. 14. The original of this letter 
to Washington is in the hand-writing of Samuel Adams, and is signed by the fol- 
lowing names, in the order in which they here stand, viz : John Adams, Nathaniel 
Folsoni, Samuel Adams, Henry Marchant, Elbridge Gerry, Eliphalet Dyer, Wil- 
liam Williams. 

t Marshall. 

I Address of Chancellor Kent before the New- York Historical Society, Dec. 182S. 
The calumnies directed against St. Clair and Schuyler, in regard to the fall of Ticon- 
deroga, were so gross as to exceed belief in their propagation. These officers were de- 
nounced as traitors to the country, acting in concert with the enemy, and the ignorant 
and credulous were led to be'ievethat they had received an immense treasure in sih^er 
balls, fired by Burgoyne into St. Clair's camp, and by his order picked up, and trans- 
mitted to Schuyler at Fort George. Wilkinson, who was Gates's Adjutant General, 
avers that resprctable people questioned him with much gravity as to the fact ! 
These slanders were, for factious purposes, countenanced by respectable men, and 
the consequence was, general defection and desertion, in the early part of the Summer, 
so that, at one time, the Northern artny was reduced to less than three thousand, 
and tiie militia to less than thirteen hundred — and these subject to no efTectual re- 
straint. 

§ "At the same time that I express my thanks for the high mark of confidence 
which Congress has been pleased to repose in me by their resolve, authorising me to 
send an officer to command the Northern army, I should wish to be excused from 
making the appointment. For this, many reasons might be mentioned, which, I am 
persuaded, will occur to Congress on reflection. The Northern department in a 
great measure has been considered as separate, and more peculiarly under their di- 
rection ; and the officers commanding there always under their nomination. I have 
never interfered farther than merely to advise, and to give such aids as were within 



1777.] burgoyne's campaign. 267 

tion to intimate, that, influenced by the peculiar attitude which 
Gates had even then begun to assume, and acting, as Washing- 
ton ever did, under the stern behests of conscience, he would 
have made a different selection from that proposed to him by 
the Eastern representatives, and which ultimately prevailed. 

General Gates, however, did not join the Northern army 
until the 19th of August ; and as the time was not specified 
within which he was required to report himself at head-quar- 
ters, General Schuyler was allowed to remain at the North, 
with the approbation both of Congress and the Commander-in- 
chief, until after the campaign had been closed by the surren- 
der of the British commander and his army. Nor were his 
exertions the less active, or his counsels the less freely proffered, 
in the cause of his country, because of the injustice by which 
his pride had been wounded.* 

After the evacuation of Fort Edward,t as mentioned in a 
former chapter, General Schuyler fell down the river to Still- 
water, on the 3d of August, and began to entrench his camp 
there on the 4th. Burgoyne's ill-conceived expedition to Ben- 
nington, under Colonel Baum, deprived him of one-sixth of his 
effective force on the 16th. It was not until near a month 
afterward, during which period the American army had been 
greatly strengthened at Stillwater, that Burgoyne was again 
prepared to advance. Having at length, by dint of almost in- 
credible labor, brought up from Fort George a supply of pro- 
visions for thirty days, and thrown a bridge of boats over the 
Hudson, the British commander with his army crossed on the 
13th and 14th of September, and encamped on the heights and 
plains of Saratoga. On the night of the 1 7th, Burgoyne en- 
camped within four miles of the American army ; and about 

my power, on the requisitions of those officers. The present situation of that depart- 
ment is dehcate and critical, and the choice of an otlicer to the command may in- 
volve very interesting and important consequences." — Letter of Wasliington to the 
President of Congress, ^ug. 3, 1777. 

* "The zeal, patriotism, perseverance, and salutary arrangements of General 
Schuyler, had roused the spirit of the country, and vanquished the prejudices excited 
ac^ainst him by artifice, intrigue, and detraction." — Wilkinson'' s JMemoirs. 

t It was during a skirmish before Fort Edward, when the Americans were flying 
from a party of thirty or forty Indians, that the late General ^Matthew Claikson, of 
New- York— then Major Clarkson and aid to General Arnold — was wounded by a 
hall which passed through the muscular integnmciils of the throat. The wound was 
supposed to be fatal at llie time, but he soon recovered. 



268 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

noon on the 19th, advanced in full force against it — the latter 
having, in the mean time, advanced toward the enemy three 
miles above Stillwater. Burgoyne commanded his right wing 
in person, covered by General Frazer and Colonel Breyman, 
with the grenadiers and light-infantry, who were posted along 
some high grounds on the right. The front and flanks were 
covered by Indians, Provincials, and Canadians. The enemy's 
left wing and artillery were commanded by Generals Phillips 
and Riedesel, who proceeded along the great road. Colonel 
Morgan, who was detached to observe their motions, and to 
harass them as they advanced, soon fell in with their pickets 
in advance of their right wing, attacked them sharply and 
drove them in. A strong corps was immediately detached by 
the enemy against Morgan, who, after a brisk engagement, was 
in turn compelled to give way. A regiment being ordered to 
the assistance of Morgan, whose riflemen had been sadly scat- 
tered by the vigor of the attack, the battle Vv'as renewed at about 
one o'clock, and was maintained with spirit, though with occa- 
sional pauses, for three hours — the commanders on both sides 
supporting and reinforcing their respective parties. By four 
o'clock the battle became general, Arnold, with nine Continen- 
tal regiments and Morgan's corps, having completely engaged 
the whole right wing of the enemy.* The contest, accidentally 
commenced, in the first instance, now assumed the most obsti- 
nate and determined character. It was maintained four hours 
longer— the soldiers being often engaged hand to hand. The 
approach of night terminated the battle — the Americans retreat- 
ing to their encampment, but not from other necessity than 
the darkness. The enemy were provided with artillery, but 
the ground occupied by the Americans would not allow the 

* Holmes, who follows Stedman. General Wilkinson denies that Arnold shared 
much in this battle. He says: — "Not a single general officer was on the field of 
battle on the 19th, until evening, when General Lamed was ordered out About 
the same time Generals Gates and Arnold were in front of the centre of the camp, 
listening to the peal of small arms, when Colonel Morgan Lewis, deputy quarter- 
master General, returned from the field, and being questioned by the General, he 
reported the undecisive progress of the action — at which Arnold exclaimed, ' by G — 
I will put an end to it,'' and clapping spurs to his horse, galloped off at full speed. 
Colonel Lewis immediately observed to General Gates, ' You had better order him 
back, the action is going well, and he may by some rash act do mischief.' 1 was 
instantly despatched, overtook, and remanded ArnoUl to camp." — J'rieiuoirs, vol. \. 
Chap. vi. 



1777.] burgoyne's campaign. 269 

use of field -pieces. The fluctuations of the battle were frequent 
during the day, and although the British artillery fell into the 
hands of the Americans at every alternate charge, the latter 
could neither turn them upon the enemy nor bring them off. 
" The wood prevented the last, and the want of a match the 
" first, as the lint-stock was invariably carried away, and the 
" rapidity of the transitions did not allow the Americans time 
" to provide one."* 

General Wilkinson, at that time Adjutant General, who was 
himself in the battle, and whose account of it is the best 
that has been written, sustains the remark made above, that the 
engagement was perfectly accidental ; neither of the opposing 
Generals meditating an attack at that time, and yet, by a mu- 
tual misconception of each other's purposes, they were kept the 
whole day acting upon the defensive ; confining themselves to 
the ground occupied at first by accident, " and neither attempt- 
'• ing a single manoeuvre during one of the longest, warmest, 
" and most obstinate battles fought in America. General Gates 
'' believed that his antagonist intended to attack him, and cir- 
*' cumstances seemed to justify the like conclusion on the part 
" of Burgoyne ; and, as the thickness and depth of an inter- 
" vening wood concealed the position and movements of either 
" army from its adversary, sound caution obliged the respective 
" commanders to guard every assailable point. Had either of 
" the Generals been properly apprised of the dispositions of his 
'•antagonist, a serious blow might have been struck either on 
" the left of the American army, or on the enemy's right ;" but 
although the combatants changed ground a dozen times in the 
course of the day, the contest was terminated by the darkness, 
on the spot where it began. t Few actions have been more re- 
markable than this, both for vigor of attack and obstinacy of 
resistance.t 

Both armies remained in the same positions until the begin- 
ning of October — each entrenching itself within lines and re- 

♦ Memoirs of General Wilkinson, vol. i. chapter vi. 

+ Idem. 

J Stedman. The loss on the part of the Americans, in killed and wounded, was 
between three and four hundred. Among the former were Colonels Colburn and 
Adams, and several other valuable officers. The loss of the British was from sis 
hundred to a thousand, killed, wounded, and taken. 



270 LIFE OP BRANT. ' [1777. 

doubts, which, in the most eligible positions, were strengthened 
with batteries. The engineer having the direction of the 
American works at Behmus's Heiglits, was the celebrated Pohsh 
patriot, Thaddeus Kosciusko, who had also served in the same 
capacity at Ticonderoga. 

The action of the 19th of September had again essentially- 
diminished the strength of Burgoyne, added to which were the 
great and increasing difficulties of obtaining supplies, and the 
perpetual annoyances to which he was subjected by the Ameri- 
can scouts, and still larger detachments, who were attacking 
his pickets, hanging upon his flanks, and cutting off his 
foraging parties. By the 4th of October his supplies were so 
far reduced that the suldiers were placed upon short allowance, 
and his position was in other respects becoming so critical, 
that, hearing nothing from Sir Henry Olinton, for whose co- 
operation from New- York he had been waiting since the battle 
of the 19th, the idea of advancing was relinquished, and instead 
thereof, discussions were held respecting the practicability of 
a retreat. This could only be done by first dislodging the 
Americans, whose forces, disciplined and undisciplined, now far 
out-numbered his own, from their posts on the heights. On 
the 4th of October, Burgoyne sent for Generals Phillips, 
Riedesel, and Frazer, to consult with tliem on the best measures 
to be taken. His project was to attack and attempt to turn the 
left wing of the Americans at once ; but the other Generals 
judged that it would be dangerous to leave their stores under 
so feeble a protection as eight hundred men, according to the 
proposition of their commander. A second consultation was held 
on the 5th, at which General Riedesel positively declared that 
the situation of the army had become so critical, that they must 
either attack and force the entrenchments of Gates, and thus 
bring about a favorable change of affairs, or recross the Hudson, 
and retreat upon Fort George. Fraser approved of the latter 
suggestion, and Phillips declined giving an opinion. General 
Burgoyne, to whom ihe idea of retreating was most unwelcome, 
declared that he would make, on the 7th, a reconnoisance as 
near as possible to the left wing of the Americans, with a view 
of ascertaining whether it could be attacked with any prospect of 
success. He would afterward either attack the army of Gates, 



1777.] BATTLE OF SARATOGA. 271 

or retreat by the route in the rear of Battenkill. This was his 
final determination, and dispositions were made accordingly.* 

Early in the afternoon of the 7th, General Burgoyne drew 
ont fifteen hundred men for the purpose of making his proposed 
reconnoisance, which he headed himself, attended by Generals 
Phillips, Riedesel, and Frazer. They advanced in three 
columns toward the left wing of the American positions, enter- 
ed a wheai-field, displayed into line, and then began cutting up 
the wheat for forage. The movement having been seasonably 
discovered, the centre advanced guard of the Americans beat 
to arms ; the alarm was repeated throughout the line, and 
the troops repaired to the alarm posts. Colonel Wilkinson 
being at head-quarters at tlie moment, was despatched to as- 
certain the cause of the alarm. He proceeded to within sixty or 
seventy rods of the enemy, ascertained their position, and return- 
ed ; informing General Gates that they were foraging ; attempt- 
ing also to reconnoitre the American left, and likewise, in his 
opinion, offering battle. After a brief consultation. Gates said 
he would indulge them ; and Colonel Morgan, whose rifle corps 
was formed in front of the centre, was directed " to begin the 
game."t At his own suggestion, however, Morgan was allowed 
to gain the enemy's right by a circuitous course, while Poor's 
brigade should attack his left.t The movement was admirably 
executed ; the New- York and New Hampshire troops attacked 
the enemy's front and left wing with great impetuosity ; while, 
true to his purpose, Morgan, just at the critical moment, poured 
down like a torrent from the hill, and attacked the enemy's 
right in front and flank. The attack was soon extended along 
the whole front of the enemy with great determination. Major 
Ackland, at the head of the grenadiers, sustained the attack of 
Poor with great firmness. § But on his right the light infantry, 
in attempting to change front, being pressed with ardor by Co- 
lonel Dearborn, were forced to retire under a close fire, and in 
great disorder. They were re-formed by the Earl of Balcarras 

* Memoirs of Madame the Baroness de Riedesel. 

t General Burgoyne afterward stated to Wilkinson, in conversation, that his 
purpose on that day was only to reconnoitre and obtain forage, and that in half an 
hour, had his motives not been penetrated by Wilkinson and he not been attacked, 
he should have finished his observations and relumed to his camp. 

t Wilkinson's Memoirs. § Holmes. 

39 



272 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

behina a fence in the rear of their first position ; but, beniij 
again attacked with great audacity in front and flanks by su- 
perior numbers, resistance became vain, and the whole Hue, 
commanded by Burgoyne in person, gave way, and made a 
precipitate and disorderly retreat to his camp,* The right of 
Burgoyne had given way first, the retreat of which wns covered 
by the light infantry and a part of the 24th regiment. The 
left wing in its retreat would inevitably have been cut to pieces, 
but for the intervention of the same troops, performing in its 
behalf the same service that, a few moments before, they had 
done for the right. This retreat took place in exactly fifty-two 
minutes after the first shot was fired — the enemy leaving two 
twelve and six six pounders on the field, with the loss of more 
than four hundred oflicers and men, killed, wounded, and cap- 
tured, and among them the flower of his oflicers, viz : General 
Frazer, Major Ackland,t Sir Francis Cook, and many others. 

* Memoirs of General Wilkinson. 

t Idem. General Wilkinson gives an interesting incident respecting Major Ark - 
land. While pursuing the flying enemy, passing over killed and wounded, he heard a 
voice exclaim — "Protect me, sir, against this boy !" Turning his head, he saw a lad, 
thirteen or fourteen years of age, deliberately aiming at a wounded officer, lying in 
the angle of a worm-fence. The purpose of the boy was arrested — the officer 
proved to be the brave Ackland who had commanded the grenadiers, and was 
wounded in both legs. He was immediately sent to head-quarters. The story of 
Major Ackland has been rendered familiar to all, even before escaping the nursery, 
by the interesting narrative of Lady Harriet, his wife, who was with the army, and 
who, two days after the battle, came to the American camp, under a flag, to join her 
husband. The incident, from the embellishments it received, was touching and ro- 
mantic. When divested of its poetry, however, and reduced to the plain njatter cf 
fact, according to the statement of the late General Dearborn, which he authorized 
Wilkinson to publish in his memoirs, the affair was not so very extraordinary tha,t 
it might not have been enacted by any other pretty woman under the same circum- 
stances, who loved her husband. Major Ackland had already been sent down to 
Albany, when Lady Harriet arrived at the camp of General Gates. She was 
treated with all possible courtesy, and permitted to follow and join him. Major 
Ackland was a gallant officer and a generous foe. While in New- York, on his 
parole, he did all in his power to favor the treatment of distinguished American 
prisoners. After his return to England, he sacrificed his life in defence of American 
honor. Having procured a regiment, at a dinner of military men, the courage of 
the Americans was questioned. He repelled the imputation with decision. High 
words ensued, in the course of which Ackland gave the lie direct to a subordinate offi- 
cer named Lloyd. A meeting was the consequence, in which he was shot through the 
head. Lady Harriet lost her senses, and continued deranged two years ; after which 
she married a gentleman named Brudenell, who had accompanied her from the camp 
of Burgoyne, at Saratoga, to that of Gates, in search of her wounded husband. 



1777.] BATTLE OF SARATOGA. 273 

The British troops had scarcely entered their lines, wlien the 
Americans, led by General Arnold, pressed forward, and, under 
a tremendous fire of grape-shot and musketry, assaulted their 
works throughout their whole extent from right to left. To- 
ward the close of the day, the enemy's intrenchments were 
forced by the left of the Americans, led by Arnold in person, 
who, with a few of his men, actually entered the works ; but 
his horse being killed, and the General himself badly wounded 
in the leg, they were forced to retire, and the approach of dark- 
ness induced them to desist from the attack.* Meantime, on 
the left of Arnold's detachment, the Massachusetts troops, under 
Colonel Brooks, had been still more successful — having turned 
the enemy's right, and carried by storm the works occupied by 
the German reserve. Colonel Breyman, their commander, was 
killed ; and his corps, reduced to two hundred men, and hotly 
pressed on all sides, was obliged to give way. This advan- 
tage was retained by the Americans ; and darkness put an end 
to an action equally brilliant and important to the Continental 
arms. Great numbers of the enemy were killed, and two hun- 
dred prisoners taken. The loss of the Americans was incon- 
siderable.t 

On the morning of the 8th, before daybreak, the enemy left 
his position and defiled into the plain where his provisions 
were ; but was obliged to halt until the evening, because his 
hospital could not be sooner removed.t The Americans im- 

* Subsequent to the battle of the 19th September, and previous to that now under 
reviev/, Arnold had had some difficulty with Gates. A sharp correspondence en 
sued, in the course of which the former demanded permission to join the Com- 
mander-in-chief in Pennsylvania. The consequence was, that Arnold found him- 
self without any command on the 7th. He was exceedingly chafed at his position ; 
but, orders or no orders, he could not be kept from the field. His conduct was very 
strange, and he has been charged by Wilkinson and others with intoxication that 
day. Be it so or not, before the action was over, he was in the hottest of it, and ex- 
ercising command. He exp(>sed himself foolishly and presumptuously in front of 
the German division ; and it was without orders that he collected a few desperate 
followers, with whom he entered the enemy's intrenchment, where he received his 
wound. 

t Holmes. 

I Memoirs of the Baroness de Riedesel. Of this lady. General Wilkinson says — 
" I have more than once seen her charming blue eyes bedewed with tears at the recital 
of her sufferings. With two infant children she accompanied her husband, Major 
General the Baron de Riedesel from Germany to Entjliind, from England to Canada, 
and from the last place to the termination of General Burgoync's campaign, in which 



274 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

mediately moved forward, and took possession of the aban- 
doned camp. Burgoyne having condensed his force upon some 
heights which were strong by nature, and covered in front by 
a ravine running parallel with the entrenchment of his late 
camp, a random fire of artillery and small arras was kept up 
through the day— particularly on the part of the enemy's sharp- 
shooters and Provincials, who were stationed in coverts of the 
ravine, which rendered their fire annoying to every person 
crossing their line of vision.* It was by a shot from one of 
these lurking parties, that General Lincoln, late in the day, 
received a severe wound in the leg while riding near the line. 
The gallant Frazer. who had been mortally wounded the 
day before, died at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 8th. On 
the evening of his fall, when it was rendered certain that he 
could not recover, he sent for General Burgoyne, and requested 
that he might be buried at 6 o'clock the following evening, on 
the crest of a hill upon which a breastwork had been con- 
structed. It was a subject of complaint against Burgoyne, that 
in order to comply with this request, he delayed his retreat, and 
thus contributed to the misfortunes of his army. Be that as it 
may, the dying soldier's request was observed to the letter. At 
the hour appointed the body was borne to the hill that had 
been indicated, attended by the Generals and their retinues ; 
the funeral service was read by the Chaplain ; and the corpse 
interred, while the balls of the American cannon were flying 
around and above the assembled mourners.! 

she suffered more than the horrors of the grave in their most frightful aspect." Her 
Memoirs were pubhshed in BeHin in 1800. They are full of interest. Some of 
the distressing scenes which attended the close of Burgoyne's campaign are so 
graphically told by the Baroness, and afford such striking illustrations of the horrors 
of war, that the author has ventured to transfer a few pages to the Appendix of the 
present volume. See Appendix, No. IX. 

♦ Memoirs of General Wilkinson. 

t The Baroness Riede=el, from whose spirited Memoirs the circumstances of thia 
funeral are drawn, states that General Gates protested afterward that had he known 
what was going on, he would have stopped the fire immediately. It must have been 
a solemn spectacle, and General Burgoyne himself described it with his usual elo- 
quence and felicity of expression : — " The incessant cannonade during the solem- 
nity ; the steady attitude and unaltered voice with which the chaplain officiated, 
though frequently covered with dust, which the shot threw up on all sides of him. ; 
the mute b»it expressive mixture of sensibility and indignation upon every counte- 
nance ; these objects wil! remain to the last of life upon the mind of every man who 
was present. The growing duskiness added to the scenery, and the whole marked 



1777.] burgoyne's camhaign, 275 

It was evident from the movements in the enemy's camp, 
that he was preparing to retreat ; but the American troops, 
having in the dehriura of joy consequent upon their victory, 
neglected to draw and eat their rations — being withal not a 
Httle fatigued with the two days' exertions, fell back to their 
camp, which had been left standing in the morning. Retreat 
was. indeed, the only alternative remaining to the British com- 
mander, since it was now quite certain that he could not cut 
his way through the American army, and his supplies were 
reduced to a short allowance for five days. He accordingly com- 
menced his retreat that night, but lingered by the way ; so that 
on the 10th he was yet near Saratoga, where he took up a po- 
sition. During this retreat he ordered the farm-houses to be 
burnt by the way, among which was the elegant mansion of 
General Schuyler, with its mills and out-buildings. This con- 
duct on the part of the British commander was viewed as 
alike disreputable and unnecessary.* 

Well knowing that a farther retreat, with a view, if possible, 
of reaching his depH at Fort George, and escaping through the 
lakes, was now the only movement to which Burgoyne could 
have recourse to save the shattered remains of his army, Gates 
lost no time in throwing several strong detachments of troops 
into his rear. A division of fourteen hundred was stationed on 
the heights opposite the ford at Saratoga ; two thoui-and in his 
rear, to prevent his retreat upon Fort Edward ; and fifteen 
hundred at a ford yet higher up. Apprehensive that he should 
be entirely penned up, Burgoyne sent forward a corps of artifi- 
cers to repair the bridges ; but these, though strongly guarded, 
were driven precipitately back. His thoughts were next di- 
rected to the opening of a passage by the way of Fort Ed- 
ward ; but the Americans had already re-possessed themselves 

a character of that juncture, that would make one of the finest subjects for the pencil 
of a master that the field ever exhibited. To the canvass, and to the faithful page 
of a more important historian, gallant friend! I consign thy memory. There may 
thy talents, thy manly virtues, their progress and their period, find due distinction; 
and lon"^ may they survive, long after the frail record of my pen shall be forgotten !" 
— Slate of the Expedition from Canada, S/-c. Sfcp. 169, 

* "The cruelties which mark the retreat of your army, in burning the gentle- 
men's and farmers' houses as it passed along, are almost, among civilized nations, 
without precedent; tliey should not endeavor to ruin those they could not conquer; 
their conduct betrays more of the vindictive malice of tlie monk than the generosity 
oi a. soWiiii::'— Letter of Gates to Burgcyne, Oct. 12, 1777. 



276 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

of that work, and were well provided with artillery. Thus 
environed with difficulties, which were increasing; every hour, 
his effective force reduced to less than three thousand five hun- 
dred men, — the American army increasing every moment, 
and now forming an almost entire circle around him, — harassed 
at all points, especially by the sharp-shooters who hovered 
about him, — Burgoyne was driven to the necessity of entering 
into a convention with General Gates, which was done by the 
unanimous consent of a general council of his officers. The 
preliminaries were soon adjusted ; and on the 17th of October, 
the royal army surrendered prisoners of war. At the opening 
of the campaign, the army of Burgoyne numbered nine thou- 
sand two hundred and thirteen men. The number that laid 
down their arms, was five thousand seven hundred and fifty- 
two. His Indian allies had all, or nearly all, abandoned him 
several days before. 

On the same day that the articles of capitulation were car- 
ried into effect, Burgoyne, with his general officers, was re- 
ceived in the quarters of General Gates, and entertained by him 
at diimer. They were received with the utmost courtesy, and 
with the consideration due to brave but unfortunate men. 
The conversation was unrestrained, affable, and free.* Indeed, 
the conduct of Gates throughout, after the terms of the surren- 
der had been adjusted, was marked with equal delicacy and 
magnanimity, as Burgoyne himself admitted in a letter to the 
Earl of Derby. In that letter, the captive General particularly 
mentioned one circumstance which, he said, exceeded all he 
had ever seen or read of on a like occasion. It was the fact, 
that when the British soldiers had marched out of their camp 
to the place where they were to pile their arms, not a man of 
the American troops loas to he seen — General Gates having 
ordered his whole army out of sight, that not one of them 

* Memoirs of the Baroness deRiedesel. The first meeting of Burgo3'ne with Gates 
is thus described by Wilkinson : — " General Gates, advised of Burgoyne's approach, 
met him at the head of his camp — Burgoyne in a rich royal imiform, and Gates in a 
plain blue frock ; when they had approached nearly within sword's length, they 
reined up and halted. I then named the gentlemen, and General Burgoyne, raising 
his hat most gracefully, said—' The fortune of war. General Gates, has made me 
your prisoner ;' to which the conqueror, returning a courtly salute, promptly replied 
—'I shall aUvay;^ be ready to bear testiiuony that it has not been through any fault 
of your Excellency.' " 



1777.] CLOSE OF burgoyne's campaign. 277 

should be a spectator of the humiliation of the British troops, 
nor ofter the smallest insult to the vanquished. This was a re- 
finement of delicacy, and of military generosity and politeness, 
reflectino- the highest credit upon the conqueror ; and was 
spoken of by the officers of Burgoyne in the strongest terms of 
approbation.* 

It was, perhaps, no fault of General Gates, that he had been 
placed in command at the North just at the auspicious mo- 
ment when the discomfiture of Burgoyne was no longer pro- 
blematical. He was ordered by Congress to the station, and 
performed his duty well. But it is no less true that the laurels 
won by him ought to have been harvested by Schuyler. Ge- 
neral (then Colonel) Wilkinson, who was not only an active of- 
ficer in that campaign, but a member of Gates's own military 
family, has placed this question in its true aspect. He main- 
tains that not only had the army of Burgoyne been essentially 
disabled by the loss of a heavy detachment, artillery and bag- 
gage, and by the defeat of the Hessians at Bennington, before 
the arrival of Gates, but that the repulse of St. IjCger at Fort 
Schuyler had deranged his plans, while safety had been restored 
to the western frontier, and the panic tliereby caused to subside. 
He likewise maintains that after the reverses at the North, no 
wise in justice attributable to him, and before the arrival of 
Gates, the zeal, patriotism, and salutary arrangements of Gene- 
ral Schuyler had vanquished the prejudices excited against 
him ; that by the defeat of Baum and St. Leger, Schuyler had 
been enabled to concentrate and oppose his whole Continental 
force against the main body of the enemy ; and that by him, 
also before the arrival of Gates, the friends of the Revolution 
had been re-animated and excited to manly resistance, while 
the adherents of the royal cause were intimidated, and had 
shrunk into silence and inactivity. From these premises, which 
are indisputable, it is no more than a fair deduction to say, 
" that the same force which enabled Gates to subdue the Bri- 

* Remembrancer of 1777, pages 482, 83, A letter published in that repository 
of the events of the American Revolution, at the same time, stated that "some few 
of the New England men desired to have Burgoyne in their hands for half an hour. 
Being asked for what purpose, they said they won\d do him no manner of harm • 
they would only tar and feather him, and make him stand on the head of one of his 
ov/n empty beef-barrels, and read his own proclamation." — >■•. 481, 32. If made 
at all, the suggestion must have been merely the spoitive sally of a war. 



278 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777, 

" tish army, would have produced a similar effect under the 
" orders of General Schuyler ; since the operations of the cam- 
•' paign did not involve a single instance of professional skill, 
" and the triumph of the American arms was accomplished by 
*•' the physical force and valor of the troops, under the pro- 

" TECTION AND DIRECTION OF THE GoD OF BATTLES."* 

Flushed with his fortuitous success, or rather with the suc- 
cess attending his fortuitous position, Gates did not wear his 
honors with any remarkable meekness. On the contrary, his 
bearing even toward the Commander-in-chief was far from 
respectful. He did not even write to Washington on the occa- 
sion, until after a considerable time had elapsed. In the first 
instance Wilkinson was sent as the bearer of despatches to 
Congress, but did not reach the seat of that body until fifteen 
days after the articles of capitulation had been signed ; and 
three days more were occupied in arranging his papers before 
they were presented.! The first mention which Washington 
makes of the defeat of Burgoyne, is contained in a letter written 
to his brother on the 18th of October — the news having been 
communicated to him by Governor Clinton. He spoke of the 
event again on the 19th, in a letter addressed to General Put- 
nam. On the 25th, in a letter addressed to that officer, he 
acknowledges the receipt of a copy of the articles of capitulation 
from him — adding, that that was the first authentic intelligence 
he had received of the affair, and that he had begun to grow 
uneasy, and almost to suspect that the previous accounts were 
premature. And it was not until the 2d of November that 
Gates deigned to communicate to the Commander-in-chief a 
word upon the subject, and then only incidentally, as though it 
were a matter of secondary importance, t 

* Wilkinson's Memoirs, vol. i. chap. v. 

t Sparks. "It was on this occasion that one of the members made a motion in 
Congress, that they should compliment Colonel Wilkinson with the gift of a pair of 
spurs." 

% Idem. All that Gates said upon the subject in the letter referred to, was 
comprised in these few words: — " Congress having been requested immediately to 
transmit copies of all my despatches to them, I am confident your Excellency has 
long ago received all the good news from this quarter." Two days before this, in a 
letter directed to Gates, Washington had administered one of those mild and digni- 
fied rebukes so very like himself. In this letter, written in reference to a special 
mission of Colonel Hamilton to the North, the Commander-in-chief said :—" By 
this opportunity I do myself the pleasure to congratulate you on the signal success 



1777.] NOBLE CONDUCT OF SCHUYLER. 279 

General Schuyler was in the camp with Gates at the time of 
the surrender, though without any personal commrind ; and 
when Burgoyne, with his general officers, arrived in Albany, 
they were the guests of Schuyler, by whom they wore treated 
with great hospitality. The Baroness de Riedesel speaks with 
great feeling of the kindness she received from General Schuy- 
ler on her first arrival in the camp of General Gates, and after- 
ward at the hands of Mrs. Schuyler and her daughters in Alba- 
ny. The urbanity of his manners, and the chivalric magna- 
nimity of his character, smarting as he was under the extent 
and severity of his pecuniary losses, are attested by General 
Burgoyne himself, in his speech in 1778, in the British House 
of Commons. He there declared that, by his orders, " a very 
" good dwelling-house, exceeding large store-houses, great saw- 
" mills, and other out-buildings, to the value altogether perhaps 
" of £10,000 sterling," belonging to General Schuyler, at Sara- 
toga, were destroyed by fire a few days before the surrender. 
He said farther, that one of the first persons he saw, after the 
convention was signed, was General Schuyler ; and when ex- 
pressing to him his regret at the event which had happened to 
his property. General Schuyler desired him " to think no more 
" of it, and that the occasion justified it, according to the prin- 
" ciples and rules of war. He did more," said Burgoyne ; " he 
" sent an aid-de-camp* to conduct me to Albany, in order, as 
" he expressed it, to procure better quarters than a stranger 
" might be able to find. That gentleman conducted me to a 
" very elegant house, and, to my great surprise, presented me 
" to Mrs. Schuyler and her family. In that house I remained 
" during my whole stay in Albany, with a table of more than 
" twenty covers for me and my friends, and every other possi- 
" ble demonstration of hospitality."! 

of the army under your command, in compelling General Burgoyne and his whole 
force to surrender themselves prisoners of war." * * * * "At 
the same time I cannot but regret that a matter of such magnitude, and so interest- 
ing to our general operations, should have reached me by report only, or through the 
channel of letters not bearing that authenticity which the importance of it required, and 
which it would have received by a line under your signature, stating the simple 
facts."— LeHers of Washington, vol. v. pages 104, 112, 113, 124, 125. 

* The late Colonel Richard Varick, then the military secretary of Gen. Schuyler. 

t Parliamentary History, vol. xix. p. 1182 — as quoted by Chancellor Kent in his 
address before the New-York Historical Society. 

40 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Sir Henry Clinton's attempt to co-operate with Burgoyne — Storming of Forts Clin- 
ton and Montgomery — Burning of iEsopus — Review of military operations else- 
where — Expedition to Peekskill — Of Gov. Tryon to Danbury — Progress of Sir 
William Howe in Pennsylvania — Battle of Brandywine — Massacre of the Paoli — 
Battle of Gcrmantown — Death of Count Donop — Murder of Captain Deitz and 
family at Berne — John Taylor — Lady Johnson ordered to leave Albany — Exas- 
peration of Sir John — Attempts to abduct Mr. Taylor — An Indian and white man 
bribed to assassinate General Schuyler — Fresh alarms in Tryon County — Ad- 
dress of Congress to the SLy Nations — The appeal produces no effect — Articles 
of confederation — Close of the year 

Simultaneously with the events rapidly sketched in the 
preceding chapter, an expedition from New- York to the North 
was undertaken by Sir Henry CHnton, to which an incidental 
reference has already been made. The obvious intention of 
Sir Henry was to relieve General Bnrgoyne ;* but it was un- 
dertaken at too late a period to render him any assistance ; a 
fact admitted by Sir Henry himself, who excused the delay by 
stating that he could not attempt it sooner without leaving the 
defences of New-York too feebly guarded. This expedition 
consisted of about three thousand men, convoyed by a fleet un- 
der Commodore Hotham, who proceeded up the Hudson river 
early in October, and was destined, in tlie first instance, against 
Forts Montgomery and Clinton, near the Southern boundary of 
the highlands. These fortresses had been constructed chiefly for 
the purpose of preventing the ships of the enemy from ascend- 
ing the river, and were not defensible in the rear. They 
were commanded by Governor Clinton, with the assistance of 
General James Clinton, his brother. 

The troops of the enemy were landed at Stoney Point, 
twelve miles below the forts. A small advanced party of the 
Americans was met and attacked at about 10 o'clock in the 
morning of the 6th of October, when within two and a half 
miles of the fort. This party was of course driven in, having 
returned the enemy's fire.t When arrived within a mile of 
the forts. Sir Henry divided his troops into two columns ; the 
one, consisting of nine hundred men under Lieutenant Colonel 

♦ Letter from Washington to General Putnam, Oct. 19, 1777. 

t Letter from Governor Clinton to the Committee of Safety, Oct. 7, 1777. 



1777.] FORTS CLINTON AND MONTGOMERY. 2S1 

Campbell, was destined for the attack on Fort Montgomery ; 
the other, under the immediate command of Sir Henry Clinton, 
was to storm the stronger post of Fort Clinton.* Ascertaining 
that the enemy were advancing to the west side of the moun- 
tain, to attack his rear. Governor Clinton ordered a detachment 
of upward of one hundred men, under Col. Lamb, together with 
a brass field-piece and fifty men more, to take a strong position 
in advance. They were soon sharply engaged, and another de- 
tachment of an equal number was sent to thei r assistance. They 
kept their field-piece sharply playing upon the enemy's advanc- 
ing column, and were only compelled to give way by the point 
of the bayonet — spiking their field-piece before they relinquish- 
ed it. In this preliminary encounter the loss of Sir Henry 
was severe. 

Pressing rapidly onward, both forts were in a few minutes 
attacked with vigor upon all sides. The fire was incessant 
during the afternoon until about five o'clock, when a flag ap- 
proaching, Lieutenant Colonel Livingston was ordered to re- 
ceive it. The officer was the bearer of a peremptory summons 
to surrender, as he alleged, to prevent the effiision of blood. 
Nor would he treat, unless upon the basis of a surrender of the 
garrison as prisoners of war, in which case he was authorised 
to assure them of good usage. The proposition being rejected 
" with scorn,"t in about ten minutes the attack was renewed, 
and kept up until after dark, when the enemy forced the 
American lines and redoubts at both forts, and the garrisons, 
determined not to surrender, undertook to fight their way out 
The last attack of the enemy was desperate ; but the Ameri 
cans, militia as well as regulars, resisted with great spirit, 
and, favored by the darkness, many of them escaped. Govern- 
or Clinton himself escaped by leaping a precipice in the dark, 
and jumping into a boat, in which he was conveyed away. 
His brother was wounded and taken prisoner. Of the British 
forces. Lieutenant Colonel Campbell and Count Grabouski, a 
Polish nobleman, engaged as a volunteer under Sir Henry, 
were slain. The loss of the Americans, killed, wounded, and 
missing, was stated at two hundred and fifty. The British loss 

* Holmes. 

t Letter of Governor Clinton to the Council of Safety, from vvliich the facts of 
this alTair are chiefly drawn. 



282 LIFE OP BRANT, [1777 

was stated at two hundred, but was believed to have been much 
more than that of the Americans.* 

On the 7th, a summons to surrender, signed jointly by Sir 
Henry Clinton and Commodore Hotham, was sent to Fort Con- 
stitution ;t but the flag was fired upon, and returned. To 
avenge the insult, an attack was immediately determined upon, 
but on arriving at the fort on the following day, there was no 
enemy to assault — an evacuation having taken place, so preci- 
pitate as to leave considerable booty to the conqueror.! Sir 
Henry Clinton proceeded no farther, but a strong detachment 
of his army, under General Vaughan, pursued the enter- 
prise, with Commodore Hotham, as far north as jEsopus,§ de- 
stroying several vessels by the way. At JEsopus Creek there 
were two small batteries and an armed galley, mounting, how- 
ever, in all, but six or seven guns. These were easily silenced. 
General Vaughan then effected a landing, marched to the 
town, and laid it ni ashes. Large quantities of stores had been 
accumulated at this place, which were of course destroyed. 
Disappointed, however, by the disastrous termination of the 
campaign of Burgoyne, Sir Henry Clinton made an expeditious 
return to the city. 

But the war was this year fruitful in military events in 
other parts of the confederation, some of the principal of which 
may appropriately be passed in review at this stage of the pre- 
sent chapter. In the month of March, after the return of the 
British troops from their bootless expedition through the Jer- 

* "I belit?ve, from the bravery of the garrison of Fort Montgomery, Sir Henry 
Clinton purchased victory at no inconsiderable expense. General Campbell was 
certainly killed. This they mention in their own official account, but call him 
Lieutenant Colonel of the fifty-second regiment. He was a General on the Ameri- 
can establishment, so declared in one of the orderly books which fell into our 
hands." — Letter of Washington to General Putnam. [Sparks corrects the Com- 
mander-in-chief upon this point — believing that General Campbell was another per- 
son, who was at Staten Island at the time in question.] 

t Situated at West Point. 

I Letter of Commodore Hotham to Sir William Howe. " The whole number of 
cannon tak-sn in the three forts amount to sixty-seven, with a large quantity of pro- 
visions, ammunition, and stores of all kinds." 

4 The ancient Dutch name of Kingston, the present shire town of the County of 
Ulster, N. Y. It was a large and wealthy inland town, built almost entirely of 
etonp, upon a rich and beautiful plain about three miles from the river. The naked 
walls of many of the houses destroyed by General Vaughan, were standing, unre- 
paired, until within five or six years. 



1777.] PROGRESS OP THE WAR. 2S3 

sies, to New- York, Colonel Bird was detached against Peek- 
skill, with five hundred men, for the purpose of destroying 
the American stores deposited at that place. General M'Dou- 
gall, commanding a small guard at the depH, on the approach 
of a force which he had not the power to resist, set fire to the 
stores and retreated. A similar expedition, for the same object, 
was directed against Danbury toward the close of April, con- 
sisting of two thousand men under the conduct of Major Gene- 
ral Tryon. Landing at Compo Creek, between Norwalk and 
Fairfield, the march of Governor Tryon to the point of his des- 
tination was almost unopposed. A large quantity of provi- 
sions — beef, pork, and flour — had been collected by the Ameri- 
cans at that place, which were guarded only by about one 
hundred militia and Continental troops. Not being able to op- 
pose the enemy. Colonel Huntington retired to a neighboring 
height, and awaited reinforcements. The town of Danbury 
and the stores were burnt on the 26th of April.* During the 
afternoon and the following night Generals Wooster, Arnold, 
and Silliman collected such militia forces as they could, for the 
purpose of harassing the retreat of the enemy the next morning. 
With three hundred men, Wooster gallantly attacked his rear 
at 1 1 o'clock on the 27th, while Arnold, with five hundred 
more, awaited his arrival at Ridge way. Wooster fell, mortally 
wounded, and his troops were obliged to give way. At Ridge- 
way, Arnold skirmished with the enemy for about an hour, but 
could not make a stand, or prevent them from remaining at 
that place over night. On the 2Sth, the march of the enemy 
was resumed, as also was the skirmishinof by General Arnold, 
which was continued until 5 o'clock in the afternoon ; when, as 
they approached their ships, the Americans charged with in- 
trepidity, but were repulsed and broken. Embarking immedi- 
ately. Governor Tryon returned to New- York, with a loss of 
one hundred and seventy men. The loss of the Americans 
was one hundred. These predatory excursions were retaliated 
by the Americans under Colonel Meigs, who made a brilliant 
expedition against Sag Harbor, where the enemy had collected 

* The property destroyed consisted of eighteen houses ; eight hundred barrels of 
pork and beef ; eight hundred barrels of flour ; two thousand bushels of grain, and 
seventeen hundred tents. 



284 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

a quantity of stores. The guard was talfen by surprise — the 
place carried by the bayonet — the stores destroyed, inchiding 
twelve transport vessels — and Colonel Meigs re-crossed the 
Sound to Guilford without the loss of a man. 

After the return of the British forces from New Jersey, Sir 
William Howe suffered them to remain upon Staten Island un- 
til near midsummer, when, as the reader has seen in a previous 
chapter, he embarked with sixteen thousand men, and sailed 
for the Chesapeake Bay. On the 24th of August he landed at 
Elkton, whence, after being joined by Generals Grant and 
Knyphausen, he directed his march upon Philadelphia. Anti- 
cipating the design of the British commander, Washington 
threw himself, with his whole disposable force, between Sir 
William and Philadelphia, for the purpose of intercepting and 
bringing him to a general engagement. The disastrous battle 
of Brandy wine was fought on the 11th of September. The 
loss of the Americans was three hundred killed and six hun- 
dred wounded and taken prisoners. That of the enemy was 
about one hundred killed and four hundred wounded. While 
General Washington with the main army retreated across 
the Schuylkill, General Wayne was left at the Paoli with fif- 
teen hundred men, for the purpose of gaining and harassing 
the enemy's rear. But, notwithstanding the wonted vigilance 
of this officer, he was surprised in the course of the night, and 
routed, by General Gray, who had been detached for that pur- 
pose with two regiments of the enemy's line and a body of 
light troops. General Wayne had attempted to conceal him- 
self upon an elevated piece of woodland, having an opening of 
a few acres upon which his troops bivouacked for the night, 
in perfect security, as was supposed. The approach of the 
enemy was so cautious as to take the Americans completely 
by surprise. Guided by the light of their fires, the enemy 
succeeded in cutting off their outposts and pickets without 
noise, and then rushed upon the sleeping camp without firing 
a gun, and depending alone upon the bayonet. Three hun- 
dred were slain, many of whom were transfixed with bayonets 
as they lay sleeping in their tents. But, though surprised. 
General Wayne was cool and self-possessed ; and, as the enemy 
himself acknowledged, " by his prudent dispositions" in the 



1777.] PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 285 

moment of alarm, succeeded in bringing off the remainder of 
his troops.* 

General Washington had taken post on the Eastern bank of 
the Schuylkill, about sixteen miles from Germantown. General 
Howe marched upon Germantown with his main army, where 
he arrived on the 26th of September. On the 27th Lord Corn- 
wallis took possession of Philadelphia without resistance. On 
the 4th of October, the battle of Germantown was fought, in 
which it was claimed by the enemy that the Americans were 
defeated, although it was, in fact, a drawn battle. This action 
was produced by an attempt of the Commander-in-chief to ef- 
fect something by way of surprise. Having ascertained the 
situation of the enemy, the Americans marched all night, and 
arrived at Germantown at daylight. The enemy was attacked 
upon two quarters, in both of which the Americans were suc- 
cessful. Indeed, the enemy, as it was afterward ascertained, 
were thrown into such a state of tumult and disorder, and so 
panic-stricken, that a retreat to Chester had been resolved upon. 
But the morning was so excessively dark and foggy, that nei- 
ther the advantages gained by the Americans, nor the confusion 

* Some twenty years ago, the citizen soldiers of the neighborhood of the Paoli 
piously collected the remains of such of the brave men who were slain on that occa- 
sion as coujd be found, and interred them on the field of the massacre. A small 
mound was raised over them, wliich is walled in, and surrounded by a plain marble 
monument — a square block, vvitli an urn at the top, bearing inscriptions upon each 
of die sides, in the following words : — 

First : " Sacred to the memory of the patriots, who, on tliis spot, fell a sacrifice 
to British barbarity, during the struggle for American Independence, during tlie 
night of the 20th of September, 1777." 

Second : " Here repose the remains of fifty-three American soldiers, who were 
Uie victims of cold-blooded cruelty in the well-known massacre of the Paoli, while 
under the command of Gen. Anthony Wayne, an officer, whose mihtary conduct, 
bravery, and humanity, were equally conspicuous throughout the Revolutionary 
war." 

Third : " The atrocious massacre, which this stone commemorates, was perpe- 
trated by British troops under the immediate command of Maj. Gen. Gray." 

Fourth : " This memorial in honor of P«.evolutionary patriotism, was erected 
September 20, 1817, by the P«.epublican ArtiUerists of Chester County, aided by the 
contributions of their fellow-citizens." 

An annual nulitary parade is held upon this interesting field. The name — The 
Paoli — is derived from a celebrated tavern, at two miles distance, on the Great 
Lancaster Road, which was established contemporaneously with the Corsican strug- 
gle for independence, and named in honor of the unfortunate chieftain of that enter- 
prise. It bears the same name still. — Journal of a Visit to the field of Brandyioinc, 
by the author. 



286 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

of the enemy, could be perceived. This circumstance, by con- 
ceahng from the Americans the true situation of the enemy, 
obhged the Commander-in-chief to act with more caution and 
less expedition than he could have wished ; and, what was 
still more unfortunate, it served to keep the different divisions 
of the Americans in ignorance of each other's movements, and 
prevent their acting in concert. It also occasioned them to 
mistake one another for the enemy. In this situation, it was 
considered unsafe to push too far through a strong village, 
while enveloped in a haze so thick as to border upon positive 
darkness. The consequence was a retreat, by the Americans at 
the very instant when victory was declaring in their favor. 
The action lasted two hours, and the fighting was severe — the 
loss of the Americims being about one hundred men, killed, 
wounded, and missing. Among the slain was the brave Gene- 
ral Nash, of North Carolina, Severe, however, as the action 
was, the enemy were rendered nothing better by the event ; 
while the result was regarded by Washington " as rather un- 
fortunate than injurious."* 

But all the advantages thus gained by the enemy, had been 
more than counterbalanced by the reverses of St. Leger, and 
the nearly simultaneous capture of Burgoyne and his well-ap- 
pointed army at the North. Another circumstance, gratifying 
to the friends of the American arms, was the repulse of Count 

* This brief account of the battle of Germantown is drawn from Washington's 
letters to the President of Congress, his brother, and Governor Trumbull. General 
Washington attributed the successes of Sir William Howe in Pennsylvania, and 
his own consequent disasters, to the apathy and disaffection of the people of that 
State. In one of his letters upon the subject, he says : — "The Norlhern army, be- 
fore the surrender of General Burgoyne, was reinforced by upward of twelve hun- 
dred militia, who shut the only door by which Burgoyne could retreat, and cut off all 
his supplies. How different our case ! The disaffection of a great part of the in- 
habitants of this State, the languor of others, and tlie internal distraction of the whole, 
have been among the great and insuperable difficulties which I have met with, and 
have contributed not a little to my embarrassments this campaign." — Letter oj 
Washington to Landon Carter, Oct. 27, 1777. Many other letters from the Com- 
mander-in-chief, written during the winter and spring of 1778, complain of the con- 
duct of the people of Pennsylvania, in supplying the enemy in Philadelphia with pro- 
visions — particularly from Bucks County. In a letter to Maj. General Armstrong, 
of that State, dated at Valley Forge, March 27th, he says : — " The situation of mat- 
ters in this State is melancholy and alarming. We have daily proof that a majority 
of the people in tliis quarter are only restrained from supplying the enemy with 
horses and every kind of necessary, through fear of punishment ; and, although I 
have made a number of severe examples, I cannot put a stop to the intercourse." 



1777.] MURDER OF THE DEITZ FAMILY. 287 

Donop, at Red Bank. The Count, a brave and experienced 
officer, fell, mortally wounded ; and about 400 of his troops were 
killed.* The laurels won by Colonel Christopher Greene, the 
American commander, on that occasion, were not the less 
creditably worn because of the necessity which compelled him 
subsequently to abandon the post, on the approach of Cornwal- 
lis with a greatly superior force. 

But neither the fall of Burgoyne, nor the flight of St. Leger, 
relieved the border settlements beyond Albany from their ap- 
prehensions. Though in less danger of a sweeping invasion, 
yet the scouts and scalping parties of the Tories and Indians 
were continually hovering upon their outskirts ; and so crafty 
were the foe, and so stealthy their movements, that no neiglibor- 
hood, not even the most populous villages, felt themselves secure 
from those sudden and bloody irruptions which mark the annals 
of Indian warfare. Very soon after the capture of Burgoyne, 
there was an occurrence in the neighborh^ood of Albany, of a 
highly painful description. Previous to the commencement of 
the war, a militia company had been organized in the town of 
Berne, comprising eighty-five men, commanded by Captain 
Ball. On the breaking out of hostilities, the Captain, with 
sixty-three of his men, went over to the enemy. Thus deserted 
by their leader, the command of the residue of the company 
devolved upon the ensign, Peter Deitz, These all embraced 
the cause of the country, and for the safety of their settlement 
threw up a little picketed fort, at a place now called the Beaver 
Dam, Deitz was soon afterward commissioned a captain, tyid 
his brother, William Deitz, his lieutenant. On the a])proach 
of Burgoyne they marched to Saratoga, and joined the army of 
Gates. Here the Captain was killed by the accidental dis- 
charge of the gun of one of his own men, William Deitz im- 
mediately succeeded to the vacancy ; and rendered such good 
service in the campaign as specially to incur the vengeance of 
the Tories and Indians. Availing themselves of an early op- 
portunity to glut their hate, a party of them stole into the set- 

* Count Donop died of his wounds three days after the action, at a iiouse near the 
fort. A short time before his death, he said to Monsieur Duplessis, a French offi- 
cer who constantly attended him in his illness, "It is finishing a noble career early. 
I die the victim of my ambition, and of the avarice of my sovereign." — Travels of 
Vie Marquis Chasldlux. 

41 



288 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

tlement of Berne, where they surprised and made prisoner of 
the Captain in his own house. They next brought him forth 
into the court, bound him to the gate-post, and then succes- 
sively brought out his father and mother, his wife and children, 
and dehberately murdered them all before his eyes ! The 
Captain was himself carried a prisoner to Niagara, where he 
ultimately fell a sacrifice to their cruelty.* An instance of 
more cool and fiend-like barbarity does not occur in the annals 
of this extraordinary contest. It was only equalled by the con- 
duct of the Tories afterward at Wyoming, and transcended by 
the refinement of cruelty practised by a French officer, during 
one of the earlier wars of the Indians, upon an unhappy 
prisoner among the remote tribe of the Dionondadies, as relat- 
ed by La Potherie.t 

Other incidents occurred at Albany and in its neighborhood, 
at about the same period, which are deemed worthy of note. 
At the time of Sir John Johnson's flight from Johnstown, his 
lady had remained behind, and was removed immediately, or 
soon afterward, to Albany. It was in this year that Mr. John 
Taylor,t after having performed several important confidential 
services under the direction of General Schuyler, was appoint- 
ed a member of the Albany Council of Safety. He was a man 
of great shrewdness and sagacity, deliberate in the formation of 
his purposes, and resolute in their execution when matured. 
The Whigs of Albany were greatly annoyed during the whole 
contest by the loyalists resident among them ; many of whom, it 
was discovered from time to time, must have been in corres- 
pondence with the enemy. The duties of the Council of 
Safety were consequently the more arduous, requiring sleepless 
vigilance and unwearied activity ; together with firmness and 
energy in some cases, and great delicacy in others. A watch- 
ful though general surveillance was necessarily enforced over 

* Albany Monthly Magazine, conducted by the late Horatio G. Spafford, 1815. 
t Vide Colden's Canada, and Smith's History of New- York. ' 

t The gentleman here referred to was much in the civil service, and occasionally 
as a volunteer in the military, during the war of the Revolution, and was almost 
constantly in public life, afterward in the councils of the State, until within a few 
years of his death. He was nine years Lieutenant-Governor, and for a time the 
acting Governor of the State ; to which station he was first chosen in 1813. His 
life was rather useful than brilliant ; but he was a sound patriot, and died the death 
of a Christian in 1829— aged 87. 



1777.] JOHN TAVLOR AND LADY JOHNSON. 2S9 

the community at large, while an eye of closer scrutiny was 
kept upon the character and conduct of great numbers of indi- 
viduals composing that community, Mr. Taylor was in every 
respect equal to the station, and was singularly fortunate both 
in detecting and defeating the evil machinations of the adhe- 
rents of the Crown. 

Among his early discoveries was the important circumstance 
that Lady Johnson was in active and frequent correspondence 
with her husband, and that the facilities derived from confi- 
dential agents and her powerful connexions, enabled her to 
keep the enemy on either side — in New- York and Canada — • 
correctly advised, not only of the movements and designs of 
each other; but likewise of the situation of American affairs. 
Under these circumstances Mr. Taylor proposed a resolution 
to the Council, directing her removal forthwith from that part 
of the country. The proposition was received with disfavor, 
and encountered much opposition in the Council. Some of 
the members seemed to lack the firmness necessary to adopt 
such a resolution, anticipating the resentment and probable 
vengeance of the Baronet, on hearing that his lady had been 
treated with any thing bordering upon harshness ; while others, 
probably, thought the precaution either would be useless, or 
that it was scarce worth while thus to wage war upon a 
woman. Convinced, however, of the danger of her longer 
presence in that section of the country, Mr. Taylor urged her 
removal so strenuously as at length to prevail ; taking upon 
himself the execution of the order. 

Sir John, greatly exasperated at the measure, availed himself 
of a flag to admonish the mover of the resolution, that should 
the chances of war throw that gentleman into his possession, 
he should be instantly delivered over to the fury of the savages. 
The reply of the Councillor was characteristic of the man : — 
" If Mr. Taylor should be so fortunate as to have Sir John 
" Johnson in his power, he should most assuredly be treated as 
" a gentleman." Several attempts were subsequently made by 
the enemy, probably under the direction of Sir John, to make 
a captive of that gentleman. It being his custom to ride fre- 
quently on horseback for exercise, and often on the road lead- 
ing toward Schenectady, in company, generally, with his inti- 
mate friend through life, Major Popham, who was then in the 



290 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

military family of General James Clinton, a small scout of In- 
dians, mi'ler the direction of Captain Brant, was on one occa- 
sion planted in ambush upon that road, at a point where it was 
supposed he would be sure to pass. Providentially, however, 
and for reasons never explained, and perhaps not known to 
themselves, on the morning referred to the friends shortened 
their ride, and wheeled about without passing the ambuscade, 
though approaching it within striking distance. One of the 
Indians, afterward taken prisoner, stated that Mr. Taylor might 
easily have been shot, but that their orders were to take him 
alive. 

Another, and a yet bolder scheme was subsequently adopted 
to effect the capture of the sagacious Committee-man, for which 
purpose a party of the enemy were actually introduced not 
only into the city of Albany, but into the loft of Mr. Taylor's 
own stable, standing in the rear of his ho^Be and upon the 
margin of the river. In order, moreover, to facilitate their 
flight with the intended captive, a canoe had been procured 
and moored at the water's edge. Tlieir design was to enter 
the house in the night, and seize and l)ear him silently away. 
One of the servants happening to step into the yard after the 
family had retired to rest, the lurking foes thought the time for 
a rush had arrived. But in their preparations to spring for- 
ward they alarmed the servant too soon, and he was enabled to 
get back into the house, bolt the door, and give timely warn- 
ing. The insidious purpose was of course frustrated.* 

Nor were these the only hostile attempts directed, at about 
the same period, against individuals at Albany ; General 
Schuyler was again selected for a victim even of assassination. 
Smarting under their disappointment in the overthrow of Bur- 
goyne, to which discomfiture the energy and efforts of Schuyler 
had so essentially contributed, a conspiracy was formed either 
to capture or destroy him. For this purpose the Tories cor- 
rupted a white man, who had been patronised by the General, 
and who was even then in his employment, to do the foul deed, 
and also one of the friendly Indians, whose clan had for years 

♦ The facts in this statement respecting Lady Johnson and Mr. Taylor, have 
been derived from an extended biographical sketch of the latter, written by his sur- 
viving friend, the venerable Major William Popham, and also from a letter ad- 
dressed to the author by General John T. Cooper. 



1777.] FRESH ALARMS IN TRYON COUNTY. 291 

been in the habit of hunting upon his premises in Saratoga, 
during the fishing season at Fish Creek, which ran through his 
farm, and in which immense quantities offish were then taken.* 
To effect their object, tlie two assassins took their station un- 
der a covert, in a valley about half a mile from the General's 
premises, and by which they had previously ascertained he was 
shortly to pass. They soon descried his approach on horseback. 
As he advanced, they took deliberate aim ; when, with a sudden 
movement, the Indian struck up his associate's gun with the 
exclamation — " I cannot kill him : I have eaten his bread too 
often /"t 

Early in the Autumn, the inhabitants of Unadilla and the 
contiguous settlements in that direction, were again imploring 
the commander of Fort Schuyler for a detachment of troops to 
protect them from another expedition, which, the Oneidas had 
informed them, Colonels Johnson and Butler were getting on 
foot at Oswego. The project, according to the news obtained 
from the Oneidas, contemplated a simultaneous descent of the 
Tories and Indians upon five diiferent points, comprehending 
all the principal settlements west of Schenectady. These un- 
pleasant tidings were in some degree confirmed, by the disco- 
very of a large scouting party of the enemy on the Sacondaga. 
at the north of Johnstown. 

The alarm was increased, toward the close of October, by 
the arrival of an express at the Canajoharie Castle, announcing 
that within a few days Sir John .lohnson would return to Os- 
wego, with SIX hundred regular troops and a large body of In- 
dians. It was stated that Sir John liad succeeded in raising 
twenty-two Indian nations in arms against the Colonists. They 
were about sending a belt to the Oneidas, and in the event of 
their refusal to take up the hatchet with their brethren in be- 
half of the King, they were themselves to be attacked as the 
first measure of the invasion. These facts were immediately 
communicated to General Schuyler by a letter dated October 
25th, announcing also the flight, to the ranks of Sir John 

* The herring fishery was considerable at Fish Ceeek at the period referred to. 
The Indians tooii them in large quantities — dried and pounded them into powder 
which they mixed with corn-meal, and packed away in boxes made of bark, for future 
consumption. 

t Facts communicated to the author by Mrs. James Cochran of Osweo-o. 



292 LIFE OP BRANT. [1777. 

Johnson, of Hon-Yost Schuyler, and twelve or fourteen of his 
neighbors at Fall Hill and in that vicinity, as heretofore stated. 
The letter contained a strong appeal for an additional force to 
defend the valley — with an assurance, that in the event of re- 
ceiving no farther means of security, the greater part of the 
inhabitants had become so discouraged that they would proba- 
bly lay down their arms ;* in other words, throw themselves 
upon the protection of the King. 

But, after all the alarm, nothing very serious resulted from 
these threatening indications during the residue of the year 1777. 
Still the Congress was unwilling that the year should close 
without making one more effort to win back the Six Nations 
from the British service, at least to a state of neutrality, if no- 
thing more. With this view, on the 3d of December the fol- 
lowing address to the Indians of those Nations was reported by 
the Committee on Indian affairs, and adopted. It is inserted at 
length in this order, on account of its eloquence, and its sur- 
passing excellence among the documents connected with the 
Indian diplomacy of the republic :— 

Address of the Congress to the Six Nations. 

" Brothers, Sachems, and Warriors : The great coun- 
cil of the United States call now for your attention. Open 
your ears that you may hear, and your hearts that you may 
understand. 

" When the people on the other side of the great water, with- 
out any cause, sought our destruction, and sent over their ships 
and their warriors to fight against us, and to take away our 
possessions, you might reasonably have expected us to ask for 
your assistance. If we are enslaved, you cannot be free. For 
our strength is greater than yours. If they would not spare 
their own brothers of the same flesh and blood, would they 
spare you ? If they burn our houses and ravage our lands, 
could yours be secure ? 

" But, Brothers, we acted on very different principles. 
Far from desiring you to hazard your lives in our quarrel, we 
advised you to remain still in ease and at peace. We even en- 
treated you to remain neuter : and under the shade of your 

♦ MS. letter to General Schu}ler— Secretary's office, Albany. 



1777.] ADDRESS TO THE SIX NATIONS. 293 

trees and by the side of your streams, to smoke your pipe in 
safety and contentment. Thouo;h pressed by our enemies, and 
when their ships obstructed our supplies of arms and powder 
and clothing, we were not unmindful of your wants. Of what 
was necessary for our own use, we cheerfully spared you a 
part. More we should have done, had it been in our power. 

" Brothers, Cayugas, Senegas, Tuscaroras, and Mo- 
hawks : Open your ears and hear our complaints. Why have 
you listened to the voice of our enemies ? Why have you suf- 
fered Sir John Johnson and Butler to mislead you ? Why 
have you assisted General St. Leger and his warriors from the 
other side of the great water, by giving them a free passage 
through your country to annoy us ; which both you and we 
solemnly promised should not be defiled with blood? Why 
have you suffered so many of your nations to join them in 
their cruel purpose ? Is this a suitable return for our love and 
kindness, or did you suspect that we were too weak or too 
cowardly to defend our country, and join our enemies that you 
might come in for a share of the plunder ? What has been 
gained by this unprovoked treachery ? what but shame and dis- 
grace ! Your foolish warriors and their new allies have been 
defeated and driven back in every quarter ; and many of them 
justly paid the price of their rashness with their lives. Sorry 
are we to find that our ancient chain of union, heretofore so 
strong and bright, should be broken by such poor and weak 
instruments as Sir John Johnson and Butler, who dare not 
show their faces among their countrymen ; and by St. Leger, a 
stranger whom you never knew ! What has become of the 
spirit, the wisdom, and the justice of your nations ? Is it pos- 
sible that you should barter away your ancient glory, and 
break through the most solemn treaties, for a few blankets or a 
little rum or powder? That trifles such as these should prove 
any temptation to you to cut down the strong tree of friendship, 
by our common ancestors planted in the deep bowels of the 
earth at Onondaga, your central council-fire ? That tree which 
has been watered and nourished by their children until the 
branches had almost reached the skies ! As well might we have 
expected that the mole should overturn the vast mountains of 
the Alleghany, or that the birds of the air should drink up the 
waters of Ontario ! 



294 LIFE OF BRANT. [1777. 

"Brothers, Cayugas, Senegas, Onondagas, and Mo- 
hawks : Look into your hearts, and be attentive. Much are 
you to blame, and greatly have you wronged us. Be wise in time. 
Be sorry and mend your faults. The great council, though the 
blood of our friends, who fell by your tomahawks at the German 
Flatts, cries aloud against you, will yet be patient. We do not 
desire to destroy you. Long have we been at peace ; and it 
is still our wish to bury the hatchet, and wipe away the blood 
which some of you have so unjustly shed. Till time should 
be no more, we wish to smoke with you the calumet of friend- 
ship around your central fire at Onondaga. But, Brothers, 
mark well what we now tell you. Let it sink deep as the bot- 
tom of the sea, and never be forgotten by you or your children. 
If ever again you take up the hatchet to strike us — if you join 
our enemies in battle or council — if you give them intelligence, 
or encourage or permit them to pass through your country to 
molest or hurt any of our people — we shall look on you as our 
enemies, and treat you as the worst of enemies, who, under a 
cloak of friendship, cover your bad designs, and like the con- 
cealed adder, only wait for an opportunity to wound us when 
we are most unprepared. 

" Brothers : Believe us who never deceive. If, after all 
our good counsel and all our care to prevent it, we must take 
up the hatchet, the blood to be shed will lie heavy on your 
heads. The hand of the thirteen United States is not short. 
It will reach to the farthest extent of the country of the Six 
Nations ; and while we have right on our side, the good Spirit, 
whom we serve, will enable us to punish you, and put it out 
of your power to do us farther mischief 

"Brothers, Oneidas and Tuscaroras : Hearken to 
what we have to say to you in particular. It rejoices our 
hearts that we have no reason to reproach you in common 
with the rest of the Six Nations. We have experienced your 
love, strong as the oak, and your fidelity, unchangeable as 
truth. You have kept fast hold of the ancient covenant chain, 
and preserved it free from rust and decay, and bright as silver. 
Like brave men, for glory you despised danger ; you stood 
forth in the cause of your friends, and ventured your lives in 
our battles. While the sun and moon continue to give light 
to the world, we shall love and respect you. As our trusty 



1777.] ADDRESS TO THE SIX NATIONS. 295 

friends, we shall protect you. and shall at all times consider your 
welfare as our own. 

"Brothers op the Six Nations: Open your ears and 
listen attentively. It is long ago that we explained to you our 
quarrel with the people on the other side of the great water. 
Remember that our cause is just ; you and your forefathers 
have long seen us allied to those people in friendship. By our 
labor and industry they flourished like the trees of the forest, 
and became exceedingly rich and proud. At length nothing 
would satisfy them, unless, like slaves, we would give them the 
power over our whole substance. Because we would not yield 
to such shameful bondage, they took up the hatchet. You have 
seen them covering our coasts with their ships, and a part of 
our country with their warriors ; but you have not seen us dis- 
mayed ; on the contrary, you know that we have stood firm 
like rocks, and fought like men who deserved to be free. You 
know that we have defeated St. Leger, and conquered Burgoyne 
and all their warriors. Our chief men and our warriors are 
now fighting against the rest of our enemies, and we trust that 
the Great Spirit will soon put them in our power, or enable us 
to drive them all far beyond the great waters. 

'•Brothers : Believe us that they teel their own weakness, 
and that they are unable to subdue the thirteen United States. 
Else why have they not left our Indian brethren in peace, as 
they first promised and we wished to have done '? Why have 
they endeavored, by cunning speeches, by falsehood and mis- 
representations, by strong drink and presents, to embitter the 
minds and darken the understandings of all our Indian friends 
on this great continent, from the North to the South, and to en- 
gage them to take up the hatchet against us without any pro- 
vocation ? The Cherokees, like some of you, were prevailed 
upon to strike our people. We carried the war into their coun- 
try, and fought them. They saw their error, they repented, 
and we forgave them. The United States are kind and merci- 
ful, and wish for peace with all the world. We have, therefore, 
renewed our ancient covenant chain with their nation. 

" Brothers : The Shawanese and Delawares give us daily 

proofs of their good disposition and their attachment to us, and 

are ready to assist us against all our enemies. The CJiicka- 

saws are omons" the number of our faithful friends. And the 

42 



296 LIFE OF BRANT [1777. 

Choctaws, though remote from us, have refused to hsten to the 
persuasions of our enemies, rejected all their offers of corrup- 
tion, and continue peaceable. The Creeks are also our steady 
friends. Oboylaco, their great chief, and the rest of their 
sachems and warriors, as the strongest mark of their sincere 
friendship, have presented the great council with an eagle's 
tail and rattle trap. They have desired that these tokens might 
be shown to the Six Nations and their allies, to convince them 
that the Creeks are at peace with the United States. We have 
therefore directed our commissioners to deliver them into your 
hands. Let them be seen by all the nations in your alliance, 
and preserved in your central council house at Onondaga. 

" Brothers, Sachems and Warriors of the Six Na- 
tions : Hearken to our counsel. Let us who are born on the 
same great continent, love one another. Our interest is the 
same, and we ought to be one people, always ready to assist 
and serve each other. What are the people who belong to the 
other side of the great waters to either of us ? They never come 
here for our sakes, but to gratify their own pride and avarice. 
Their business now is to kill and destroy our inhabitants, to 
lay waste our houses and farms. The day, we trust, will soon 
arrive, when we shall be rid of them forever. Now is the time 
to hasten and secure this happy event. Let us then, from this 
moment, join hand and heart in the defence of our common 
country. Let us rise as one man, and drive away our cruel 
oppressors. Henceforward let none be able to separate us. If 
any of our people injure you, acquaint us of it and you may 
depend upon full satisfaction. If any of yours hurt us, be you 
ready to repair the wrong or punish the aggressor. Above all, 
shut your ears against liars and deceivers, who, like false mete- 
ors, strive to lead you astray, and to set us at variance. Believe 
no evil of us till you have taken pains to discover the truth. 
Our council-fire always burns clear and bright in Pennsylvania. 
Our commissioners and agents are near your country. We 
shall not be blinded by false reports or false appearances. 

"Brothers: What may be farther necessary at this time 
for our common good you will learn from our commissioners, 
who sit round our council-fire at Albany. Hear what they 
say, and treasure it up in your hearts. Farewell." 

This appeal produced no effect. It was one of the misfor- 



1777.] CLOSE OF THE YEAR. 297 

tunes incident to the poverty of the country at that crisis, that 
Congress was unable to conciliate the friendship of the Indians, 
by such a liberal dispensation of presents as they had been in 
the habit of receiving from the superintendents of the crown, 
and as they were yet enabled to receive from the British go- 
vernment at or by the way of Montreal. Thayendanegea, ear- 
ly in the preceding year, had taunted General Herkimer, at 
Unadilla, with the poverty of the Continental government, 
which, he said, was not able to give the Indians a blanket. 
The fact was but too true ; and the officers of the crown were 
not slow in availing themselves of it, not only by appeals to 
their cupidity, but by a more lavish bestowment of presents 
than ever. Thus Guy Johnson, in one of his speeches to the 
Six Nations at the West, put the significant questions to them : 
" Are they," (the rebels, as he probably called them) " able to 
*' give you any thing more than a piece of bread and a glass of 
"rum? Are you willing to go with them, and suffer them to 
'' make horses and oxen of you, to put you to the wheelbar- 
" rows, and to bring us all into slavery ?" While, therefore, 
the Americans were unable to furnish the Indians with those 
necessaries of life, for a supply of which they had become ac- 
customed to rely upon the white man, they found an abundance 
of stores at Montreal, wide open at their approach. And under 
these circumstances, with the single exceptions of the Oneidas, 
and the feeble band of the Tuscaroras, all the efforts of Con- 
gress to conciliate their friendship, or even to persuade them to 
neutrality, proved unavailing. 

Thus ended the military operations of the year 1777. At the 
close of the Pennsylvania campaign, the British army went into 
winter quarters in Philadelphia, and the American at Valley 
Forge. On the 1.5th day of November, what are now called the 
old '• Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union," between 
the thirteen Colonies, were adopted by Congress ; and on the 22d 
of the same month, it was resolved that all proposals for a trea- 
ty between the United States and Great Britain, inconsistent 
with the independence of the former, should be rejected. It was 
likewise farther resolved, that no conference should be held 
with any commissioners on the part of Great Britain, unless, as 
a measure preliminary, the fleets and armies of that power 
were withdrawn. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Treaty of alliance with France — Policy of France — Incidents of the Winter — Pro- 
jected expedition against St. Johns — Lafayette appointed to the command of the 
North— Failure of the enterprise for lack of means — Disappointment and chagrin 
of Lafayette — Unpleasant indications respecting the Western Indians — Indian 
council at Johnstown — Attended by Lafayette — Its proceedings — And result — 
Reward offered for Major Carleton — Letter of Lafayette — He retires from the 
Northern Department — Pceturn of the loyalists for their families — Unopposed — 
Their aggressions — Prisoners carried into Canada — Their fate — Re-appearanee 
of Brant at Oghkwaga andUnadilla — Anecdote of Brant — Comparative cruelty of 
the Tories and Indians — Murder of a family — Exposed situation of the people — 
Captain McKean — Sends a challenge to Brant— Burning of Springfield — First 
battle in Schoharie. 

The opening of the year 1778 was marked by an event 
■that diffused universal joy among the people. It had been 
rightly judged by American statesmen, that, smarting under the 
loss which France had experienced by the war ending in 1763, 
of her broad North American possessions, the government of 
that country would be nothing loth to aid in the infliction of a 
like dismemberment of territory upon Great Britain. With a 
view, therefore, of cultivating friendly relations with France, 
and deriving assistance from her if possible, Commissioners 
had been despatched to the Court of Versailles, in ] 776, with 
the plan of a treaty of amity and commerce to be submitted to 
that government. Still, more than a year had elapsed, during 
which the Commissioners * had been exerting themselves to the 
utmost, to obtain a recognition of the Independence of the 
United States without success. It was evident that France 
looked upon the revolt of the American Colonies with secret 
satisfaction ; but she had been so much weakened by the 
former contest, that time was needed for repose and recovery of 
her strength. Hence, from the arrival of the Commissioners in 
the French capital, in December 1776, to the close of 1777, 
they had been living upon " hope deferred." It is true that 
the Americans received great assistance from the French, in 
supplies of arms and ammunition ; and although not openly al- 
lowed, yet means were found by the American privateers, se- 

* The Commissioners were, Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. 
Mr. Jefferson had been originally designated as one of the Commissioners ; but, 
declining the appointment, Mr. Lee was selected in his stead. 



1778.] ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 299 

cretly to dispose of their prizes in French ports. Still, the 
government was lavish in its professions of friendship for 
England, even though confidentially giving the Americans 
strong assurances of sympathy and ultimate assistance. The 
untoward result of Burgoyne's campaign, intelligence of which 
was received in Paris early in December, was the opportune 
means of ending this vascillating policy on the part of the 
Court of Versailles. The feelings of the French people toward 
Fngland could no longer be disguised ; since the news occa- 
sioned as much general joy as though the victory had been 
achieved by their own arms.* The consequence was, that, on 
the 6th of February, the French government entered into treaties 
of amity, commerce, and alliance, with the United States, on 
principles of the most perfect reciprocity and equality. The 
French cabinet clearly foresaw that this measure would soon 
produce a war between themselves and England, and acted in 
the expectation of such a consequence. Indeed, M. Girard, 
one of the French Secretaries of State, in his conferences with 
the American Commissioners, had the frankness to avow that 
they were not acting wholly for the sake of the United States, 
but because they thought the moment a favorable one for hum- 
bling their haughty rival, by aiding in the dismemberment of 
her empire. Hence the King had not only determined to acknow- 
ledge the Independence of the United States, but to support it 
— without the expectation of compensation.! 

The news of the treaty with France was not received in the 
United States until late in the Spring.! Meantime other cir- 

* Letter of the Commissioners. t Marshall. 

I The event was commemorated in the American camp, on the 7th of May, in a 
style corresponding with its importance — a general order for the celebration having 
been issued by the Commander-in-chief. It began as follows : — " It having pleased 
tlie Almighty Ruler of the Universe to defend the cause of the United American 
States, and finally to raise us up a powerful friend among the princes of the earth, to 
establish our liberty and independency upon a lasting foundation ; it becomes us to 
get apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the divine goodness, and celebrating the 
important event, which we owe to his divine interposition." The pageant was 
strictly military, and is described by the letters of that day as exceedingly brilliant. 
The joy manifested was unfeigned and unspeakable. The Commander-in-chief 
dined in public with all the officers of his army. "When his Excellency took his 
leave, there was a universal clap, with loud huzzas, which continued until he had 
proceeded a quarter of a mile, during which time there were a thousand hats tossed 
in the air. His Excellency turned round witli his retinue, and huzzaed several 
times." — Letter of an officer. 



300 LIFE OV BRANT. [1778. 

cumstances occurred during the Winter, in the Northern part 
of New-York, deserving of note in the present narrative. First 
among these, was the notable project of General Gates for a 
second descent, in mid-winter, upon Canada. In November fol- 
lowing the defeat of Burgoyne, on the reorganization of the 
Board of War, Gates, in the first flush of his popularity, was 
placed at its head as president. He had not been long at 
Yorktown,* where Congress was then in session, before he 
conceived the project of directing an irruption into Canada 
across the ice upon Lake Champlain, for the purpose of de- 
stroying the stores and shipping of the enemy at St. Johns ; 
and, possibly, of striking a sudden blow upon Montreal. It 
was subsequently but too well ascertained that the condition of 
the Northern army, with which Gates certainly ought to have 
been acquainted, was by no means such as to warrant the un- 
dertaking of any offensive enterprise. Still the victorious com- 
mander of the North had the address to obtain a vote of 
Congress directing the expedition,! the conduct of which was 
entrusted to the Marquis de Lafayette. This gallant young 
nobleman had been burning with a desire to distinguish him- 
self in a separate command, and this project opened to him the 
prospect of realizing the object dearest to his heart. 

But, neither in the inception nor in the maturing of the en- 
terprise, had the Commander-in-chief been consulted ; and the 
first knowledge he possessed of the project was derived from a 
letter from General Gates, inclosing another to the Marquis, 
informing him of his appointment to the command.^ The dis- 
respect to the Commander-in-chief, to whom the youthful 
soldier was bound by the strongest ties of friendship and respect, 
was so manifest, that the Marquis at first hesitated in accepting 

* York, in Pennsylvania. j Journals of Congress, vol. iv. p. 48. 

{ " I am much obliged by your polite request of my opinion and advice on the 
expedition to Canada and other occasions. In the present instance, as I neither 
know the extent of the objects in view, nor the means to be employed to effect them, 
it is not in my power to pass any judgment upon the subject. I can only sincerely 
wish that success may attend k, both as it may advance the public good, and on 
account of the personal honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, for whom I have a very 
particular esteem and regard."— [Le»er ofWashington to Gates, Jan. 27, 1778.] 
" I shall say no more of the Canada expedition, than that it is at an end. I never 
was made acquainted with a single circumstance relating to it."~Le««r c/ fTasA- 
ington to General tirmstrong, of Pennsylvania, 



1778.] PROPOSED CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANADA. 301 

the command. Nor was his reluctance lessened by tlie suspi- 
cious circumstance that General Conway, the base instrument 
of the Gates faction in the conspiracy against Washington, had 
been assigned as his second in command. Soaring above all 
selfish considerations, however, Washington advised the Mar- 
quis to accept the trust confided to him by Congress. Lafayette, 
therefore, repaired from the camp at Valley Forge to York town, 
to be more particularly advised as to the object and the details 
of the enterprise. The plan of organizing a light but efficient 
force, to make a sudden dash upon St. Johns, and destroy the 
flotiUa which gave the enemy the command of Lake Champlain, 
and to inflict such farther injury as might be effected in a rapid 
campaign, was fully unfolded to him. Ample supplies of men 
and means were promised by Gates ; and, after securing the 
services of the Baron de Kalb to the expedition — an officer 
older in rank ilian Conway, who would necessarily be his se- 
cond in command — the Marquis accepted the appointment. 

Full of high hopes, a brilliant enterprise before him, and 
panting for an opportunity to signalize himself in a separate 
command, the Marquis pushed forward to Albany, amid all the 
rigors of winter, to enter at once upon the service, and appa- 
rently with as much confidence as though he had achieved the 
exploit. Sad, however, was his disappointment at the posture 
of affairs on his arrival at Albany. Conway, who had arrived 
there three days before him, at once assured him that the expe- 
dition was quite impossible. Such, likewise, was the opinion 
of Generals Schuyler, Lincoln, and Arnold, the latter two of 
whom were detained at Albany by the unhealed wounds re- 
ceived upon the fields of Saratoga. Indeed, he was not long in 
ascertaining, from the quarter-master, commissary, and cloth- 
ier-generals, that there was a lamentable deficiency of almost 
every necessary of which he had been led to expect an abun- 
dant supply. The number of troops was altogether inadequate. 
Three thousand effective men were believed to be the smallest 
force that would suffice, and that number was promised. But 
scarcely twelve hundred could be mustered fit for duty, and the 
greater part of these were too naked even for a Summer cam- 
paign.* Their pay was greatly in arrear ; and officers and 

• Letter of Lafayette to General Washington, dated Alban •, Fel). 13. 1778. 



302 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

men were alike indisposed to the service.* Originally it had 
been intended to confide the proposed expedition to General 
Stark, whose prowess at the battle of Bennington had rendered 
him exceedingly popular with the people ; and it was supposed 
that he could at once bring into the field a sufficient number of 
his mountaineers to strike the blow with success.t Stark was 
invited to Albany, and .Tames Duane was sent thither from Con- 
gress to confer with him upon the subject. But the induce- 
ment offered by Congress being in the form of a bounty, con- 
tingent only upon success, was thought not sufficient ; and 
when a representation of the circumstances was made by Mr. 
Duane to that body, the scheme was changed and enlarged, at 
the suggestion of General Gates, according to the plan which 
the Marquis was to execute. 

Having attentively examined the situation of aflairs, and the 
means within his control, and consulted with the several able 
captains at Albany, the young soldier saw with inexpressible 
chagrin that the obstacles were insuperable. In the language 
of another, amounting to a bitter satire, whether thus intended 
or not — " the Generals only were got in readiness ;"t and the 
gallant Marquis was compelled to relinquish the enterprise, 
without even the poor privilege of making an attempt. He cer- 
tainly had great reason, not only for vexation, but disgust — 
advised, as he had been, to announce to his court the degree of 
confidence reposed in him by Congress, in thus confiding to 
him a separate command of such importance — not, of course, 

* On the 19th of February James Duane wrote to Governor Clinton respecting 
the impracticability of the enterprise, since the Marquis could find neither the troops 
nor the preparations. In the course of his letter, Mr. Duane said of the Marquis : — 
"His zeal for this country, of which he has given marks even to enthusiasm, and his 
ardent desire of glory, lead him to wish the expedition practicable; but he is too 
considerate to pursue it rashly, or without probable grounds of a successful issue. 
I must mention to your Excellency a circumstance which shows the liberality of his 
disposition. He determined, on his entering into Canada, to supply his army 
through his own private bills on France to the amount of five or six thousand 
guineas, and to present that sum to Congress as a proof of his love to America and 
the rights of human nature." 

I " I was to find General Stark with a large body, and indeed General Gates told 
me ' General Stark will have bund the fleet before your arrival.'' Well : the first let- 
ter I receive in Albany is from General Stark, who wishes to know ' what number of 
men, from where, for what time, and for what rendezvous, I desire him to raise.' " 
— Letter from Lafayette to Washington. 

I Marshall. 



1778.] THE PROJECT ABANDONED. 303 

suspecting, for a moment, that General Gates could have been 
so ignorant of the actual situation of the department from which 
he had been so recently transferred.* 

The Marquis wrote to his greatest and best friend, the Com- 
mander-in-chief, upon the subject of what he called his ■'' dis- 
tressing and ridiculous situation," in the bitterness of his spirit. 
" I am sent," said he, " with a great noise, at the head of an 
" army, to do great things. The whole continent, France, and, 
" what is the worst, the British army, will be in expectation. 
" How far they will be deceived, how far we shall be ridiculed, 
" yoii may judge by the candid account you have got of the 
" state of our affairs." It is quite evident, from the tenor of the 
letter we are quoting, that the ]Marquis suspected that he had 
been purposely detached from the company of Washington 
with some sinister design : — " There are things, I dare say, in 
" which I am deceived. A certain Colonel is not here for no- 
" thing." * * * "I am sure a cloud is drawn before my eyes. 
" However, there are points I cannot be deceived in." * * * 
" They have sent me more than twenty French officers. I do 
" not know what to do with them. I am at a loss to know 
" how to act, and indeed I do not know for what I am here my- 
" self" And again, toward the close of the letter, he says : — " I 
*' fancy the actual scheme is, to have me out of this part of the 
"continent, and General Conway as chief under the immedi- 
" ate direction of General Gates. How they will bring it about 
" I do not know, but be certain something of that kind will ap- 
" pear. You are nearer than myself, and every honest man in 
" Congress is your friend ; therefore you may foresee and pre- 
•' vent the evil a hundred times better than I can."t 

The true position of affairs at Albany having been made 
known to Congress, it was resolved to instruct the Marquis to 
suspend the expedition, and at the same time to assure him 
" that Congress entertained a high sense of his prudence, acti- 
" vity, and zeal ; and that they were fully persuaded nothing 
" would have been wanting on his own part, or on the part of 

* The history of this abortive project has been drawn chiefly from a long MS. 
letter from James Duane to Governor Clinton, in the author's possession. On his 
way to Albany, the Marquis visited Mr. Duane, and was accompanied by him thither. 

t Letter from Lafayette to Washington, dated Albany, Feb. 23, 1778.— Vide 
Sparks, Cor. of Washington, vol. v. — Appendix. 

43 



304 LIFE OF BRANT. [177S. 

" the officers who accompanied him. to give the expedition the 
" utmost possible effect." * 

But, to return to the Indian affairs of the Mohawk Valley. 
Early in the year, various unpleasant symptoms were percepti- 
ble, indicating the design of a renewed and more extensive In- 
dian war than had been anticipated at any previous moment. 
Information was received from the remote West, of a general 
disposition among the nations in the region of the great lakes, 
and the upper Mississippi, to join the Mohawks, Cayugas, 
Onondagas, and Senecas, against the United States. The 
master-spirit of those threatened movements was Joseph Brant, 
whose winter-quarters were at the central and convenient point 
of Niagara. Nor were Sir John Johnson and his associates, 
Claus and Butler, inactive ; while the British commander at 
Detroit, Colonel Hamilton, was at the same time exercising a 
powerful influence over the surrounding nations of the forest. 
On the opening of the year, therefore, great fears were enter- 
tained for the security of the frontiers from the Mohawk to the 
Ohio. Still, with the Six Nations. Congress resolved to make 
yet another effort of conciliation — to secure their neutrality, if 
nothing farther. Accordingly, on the 2d of February, resolu- 
tions were passed, directing a council to be held with these 
nations at Johnstown, in the County of Tryon. General 
Schuyler and Volkert P. Douw were appointed commissioners 
for that purpose, and Governor Clinton was requested to de- 
signate a special commissioner to be present on the occasion. In 
pursuance of this solicitation, James Duane was appointed for 
that duty. The resolutions of Congress instructed the com- 
missioners " to speak to the Indians in language becoming the 
" representatives of free, sovereign, and independent States, and 
" in such a tone as would convince them that they felt them- 
" selves to be so." t It was left to the discretion of the com- 
missioners to determme whether it would be prudent to insist 
upon their taking up arms in behalf of the States, or whether to 
content themselves with efforts to secure their neutrality. 

The directions were, that the council should be holden be- 
tween the 15th and 20th of February ; but so slow or reluc- 
tant were the Indians in assembling, that the proceedings were 

* Secret Journal, March 2d, cited by Sparks, 
t Journals of Cong. vol. iv. page 63. 



1778.] INDIAN COUNCIL AT JOHNSTOWN. 305 

not commenced until the 9th of March. Whether General 
Schuyler attended, is not known. The Marquis de Lafayette, 
who was then temporarily in command of the Northern De- 
partment, accompanied Mr. Duane to Johnstown, and was pre- 
sent at the council. More than seven hundred Indians were 
collected at the treaty, consisting of Oneidas, Tuscaroras, 
Onondagas, a few Mohawks, and three or four Cayugas ; but 
not a single Seneca, which was by far the most powerful na- 
tion. On the contrary, they had the boldness to send a mes • 
sage, affecting great surprise, " that while our tomahawks were 
" sticking in their heads, their wounds bleeding, and their eyes 
" streaming with tears for the loss of their friends at German 
" Flatts,* the commissioners should think of inviting them to a 
" treaty !" 

The proceedings were opened by an address from Congress, 
framed in accordance with the spirit of the resolutions already 
cited, asserting the power of the United States, and their magna- 
nimous conduct toward the Six Nations — and charging them 
distinctly with the ingratitude, cruelty, and treachery, with 
which their pacific advances had been requited, and for which 
reparation was demanded. From this charge of treachery, 
the Oneidas and Tuscaroras were not only honorably excepted, 
but, on the contrary, were applauded for their firmness and in- 
tegrity, and assured of friendship and protection. 

An Onondaga chief spoke in behalf of the guilty tribes. He 
exculpated himself and his brother sachems, casting the blame 
on the young and head-strong warriors, who, he said, would not 
listen to prudent councils — illustrating their own internal diffi- 
culties by those occasionally existing among the people of the 
States, which it was at times found impossible to repress. He 
also spoke of the difficulty they were obliged to encounter, in 
withstanding the influence of Butler and others in the service 
of the Crown, acquired by bribery and other kindred artifices. 

An Oneida chief answered for his own nation and the Tus- 
caroras, with a spirit and dignity which would not have dis- 
graced a Roman senator. He pathetically lamented the dege- 
neracy of the unfriendly tribes ; predicted their final destruc- 
tion ; and declared the fixed and unalterable resolution of the 

• Oriskany, meaning. The quotation is from a manuscript letter of James 
Duane. 



306 LIFE OP BRANT. [1778. 

tribes which he represented, at every hazard, to hold fast the 
covenant chain with the United States, and be buried with 
them in the same grave, or with them to enjoy the fruits of 
victory and peace. He fully evinced the sincerity of these pro- 
fessions, by desiring that the United States would erect a for- 
tress in their country, and station a small garrison within it 
for their defence. A promise to this effect having been given, 
the Oneida concluded with a solemn assurance, that the two 
nations for whom he spoke would at all times be ready to co- 
operate with the United States against all their enemies. 

In a private interview afterward, the Oneidas warned the 
Commissioners against trusting to the Onondagas, whom they 
considered as enemies to the United States, notwithstanding 
their seeming contrition for the past. The Oneidas declared 
that they had not the least doubt that the Onondagas, Cayu- 
gas, and Senecas would renew their hostilities early ia the 
Spring ; that Colonel Butler would again be in possession of 
Oswego, which he would more strongly fortify ; and for these 
events they entreated the Commissioners to be prepared. 

In their reply to the Indians, the Commissioners again ap- 
plauded the Oneidas and Tuscaroras for their fidelity and 
courage. The other nations, they said, were not sufficiently 
represented to warrant the holding of a treaty with them. But 
they, nevertheless, directed that another council for those tribes 
should be held in Onondaga, at some subsequent day, at which 
the demand of the United States of satisfaction for past wrongs 
should be pubhcly made, and an explicit answer exacted. 
They were admonished that the cause of the United States was 
just ; that the hand of the United States could reach the re- 
motest corner of the country of the Senecas ; and that they 
trusted that the Good Spirit whom they served, would enable 
them to punish all their enemies, and put it out of their power 
to do them farther injury.* 

The inhabitants of Tryon County, many of whom were 
spectators at the council, were highly gratified with the pro- 
ceedings ; and it was supposed that the moral effect would be 
good, not only in regard to the Oneidas. but also upon the 

* Unpublished letter of James Duane to Governor Clinton, giving a report of his 
Kussion, in the author's possession. 



1778.] CHERRY VALLEY AND SCHOHARIE. 307 

Onondagas — those tribes being closely connected by intermar- 
riages ; but the Commissionors left the council under the full 
persuasion that from the Senecas, Cayugas, and the greater 
part of the Mohawks, nothing but revenge for their lost friends 
and tarnished glory at Oriskany and Fort Schuyler was to be 
anticipated ; more especially since the enemy was so plentifully 
supplied with the means of corruption, while it was not in the 
power of the United States so much as to furnish their best 
friends with the necessaries of life, even in the course of trade.* 
Still, in order, as far as possible, to regain some of their lost as- 
cendancy over the Indians, by means of traffic, the Commission- 
ers of that department were shortly afterward authorized by 
Congress to open a trading establishment at Fort Schuyler. 
But the inadequacy of the provision must be evident from the 
fact, that the slender exchequer of the govermnent allowed an 
appropriation of no greater sum for that important object, than 
ten thousand doUars.t 

While at Johnstown during this visit, the Marquis de La- 
fayette was waited upon by Colonel Campbell and others, 
for the purpose of calling his attention to the exposed situation 
of Cherry Valley. The consequence was an order for the 
erection of a fort at that place. An engineer was detailed upon 
that duty, and detachments of troops ordered both to that place 
and Schoharie. Three slight fortifications had been built 
in the valley of the Schoharie-kill during the preceding year, 
called the Upper, Middle, and Lower Forts. These works 
were merely circumvallations of earth and wood, thrown up 
around some strong dwelling-houses constructed of stone, 
within which the women and children were placed in moments 
of peculiar danger. The church was the citadel of the Lower 
Fort, and all were manned by small companies of soldiers, having 
each a single brass field-piece. Tlie Marquis likewise directed 
the erection of a fort in the Oneida country, pursuant to the 
request of the Indians of that nation. 

It was but too evident, from the reports borne upon every 
western breeze, that all these measures of precaution in that di- 
rection wer* necessary. To the Johnsons and their adherents 
the recovery of the Valley of the Mohawk was an object of the 

♦ Unpublished letter of James Duane to Governor Clinton, heretofore cited, 
t Journals of Congress, vol. iv. p. 256. 



308 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

first importance ; and they watched every opportunity of 
moving in that quarter, which promised even a possible chance 
of success. Even while the Marquis was present with the 
Indian Commissioners at Johnstown, no less a personage than 
a British Colonel, a nephew of Sir Guy Carleton, and bearing 
the same honorable name, was well understood to be lurking in 
that vicinity as a spy. Every effort was made for his arrest ; 
and, as an inducement to the militia and Indians to be on the 
alert, the Marquis offered a reward of fifty guineas from his own 
purse, as will appear by the annexed letter to Col. Gansevoort • — 

The Marq.uis de Lafayette to Col. Gansevoort. 
" Johnstown^ the 9th March, 1778. 
"Sir, 
" As the taking of Colonel Carleton is of the greatest import- 
ance, I wish you would use every exertion in your power to 
have him apprehended. I have desired Colonel Livingston, 
who knows him, to let you have any intelligence he can give, 
and join to them those I have got by one other spy, about the 
dress and figure of Carleton. You may send as many parties 
as you please, and every where you'll think proper, and do 
every convenient thing for discovering him. I dare say he 
knows we are after him, and has nothing in view but to escape, 
which I beg you to prevent by all means. You may promise, 
in my name, fifty giiineas hard money, besides every money 
they can find about Carleton, to any party of soldiers or Indians 
who will bring him alive. As every one knows now what we 
send for, there is no inconvenience to scatter in the country 
which reward is promised, in order to stimulate the Indians. 
" I have the honor to be. Sir, 

" Your most obedient servant, 
" The Mqs. de Lafayette." 
" Col. Gansevoort, ComH. Fort Schuyler. ''''* 
The condition contained in this letter, that, to entitle the cap- 
tor to the promised reward, Carleton must be brought in alive, 
comports with the well-known humanity, through life, of the 
illustrious friend of human liberty who wrote it. But the 
search was fruitless, Carleton was an active and eflicient 
partisan officer, and was never taken. The Marquis retained 
* This letter has been copied from the original, among the Gansevoort papers. 



1778.] ■ A TORY INVASION. 309 

the command at the North only until the middle of April, when 
he was ordered to head-quarters, and Gates again assumed the 
command of the department. 

In the month of June, the loyalists who had fled to Canada 
with Sir John Johnson, to the number of one hundred and up- 
ward, performed an exploit equally bold and remarkable, which 
naturally suggests the inquiry, where were the Whigs of Tryon 
County at that time ; and in what were they engaged ? The 
incident to which reference is had, was the return of those self- 
same loyalists for their families, whom they were permitted to 
collect together, and with whom they were suftered to depart 
into the country, and the active service of the enemy. Nor 
was this all. Not only was no opposition made to their pro- 
ceedings, but on their way they actually committed acts of 
flagrant hostility, destroyed property, and took several prisoners. 
Having completed their arrangements, they moved northward 
from Fort Hunter, through Fonda's Bush — making four prison- 
ers on their way thither,* and at Fonda's Bush five others.t 
From this place they proceeded across the great marsh to Sir 
William Johnson's fish-house, on the Sacondaga, capturing a 
man named Martin, and another named Harris, on the way, 
and at the fish-house taking a brave fellow named Solomon 
Woodworth and four others.t They burnt the house and out- 
buildings of Godfrey Shew at this place, and departed with 
their prisoners, leaving the women and children houseless. 
Embarking on the Sacondaga in light canoes, previously 
moored at that place for the purpose, they descended twenty- 
five miles to the Hudson, and thence, by the way of Lakes 
George and Champlain, proceeded to St. Johns in safety. The 
day after his capture, Woodworth succeeded in making his 
escape. At St. Johns, John Shew and four others were given 
up to the Indians, by whom they were taken to their village in 
Canada. They were neither considered nor treated exactly as 
prisoners of war ; and Shew, with three of his companions, soon 
afterward escaped and returned home.§ From St. Johns, the 

* Mr. Cough and his son, and Mr. Marinas and his son. 

t John Putnam, Jr., Mr. SaUsbury, Mr. Rice, Mr. Joseph Scott, and Mr. 
Bowman. 

X Godfrey Shew, and his three sons, John, Stephen, and Jacob. 

§ In the Autumn of 1780 young Shew was again captured by a scouting parfy of 



310 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

loyal party proceeded down the St. Lawrence to Q,uebec, where 
the residue of the prisoners were kept in close confinement 
about four months. Some of tlie number died, and the remain- 
der were sent to HaUfax, and thence exchanged by the way of 
Boston. This movement of the Tories back in a body to their 
deserted homes, and its success, form one of the most extraordi- 
nary incidents, though in itself comparatively unimportant, 
which transpired during the wars of the Mohawk country.* 

With the opening of the season for active operations — though 
he was himself never inactive — Thayendanegea had again re- 
turned to his former haunts on the Susquehanna — Oghkwaga 
and Unadilla. He soon proved himself an active and dreaded 
partisan. No matter for the difficulties or the distance, where- 
ever a blow could be struck to any advantage, Joseph Brant 
was sure to be there. Frequent, moreover, were the instances in 
which individuals, and even whole families in the outskirts of 
the settlements, disappeared, without any knowledge on the part 
of those who were left, that an enemy had been near them. 
" The smoking ruins of their dwellings, the charred bones of 
the dead," and the slaughtered carcasses of the domestic ani- 
mals, were the only testimonials of the cause of the catastrophe, 
until the return of a captive, or the disclosures of some prisoner 
taken from the foe, furnished more definite information.t But 
there is no good evidence that Brant was himself a participator 
in secret murders, or attacks upon isolated individuals or fami- 
lies ; and there is much reason to believe that the bad feelings 
of many of the loyalists induced them to perpetrate greater 
enormities themselves, and prompt the parties of Indians whom 
they often led, to commit greater barbarities than the savages 
would have done had they been left to themselves. 

In support of the foregoing opinion of Captain Brant, the 
following incident, occurring in the Summer of the present 
year, may be adduced. A lad in Schoharie County, named 
William M'Kown, while engaged in raking hay alone in a 

Indians and Tories, in the woods in the neighborhood of Ballston, and at the insti- 
gation of one of the latter, named John Parker, was immediately murdered. Parker 
was himself soon afterward taken as a spy by Captain Bernett of the militia — 
carried to Albany, tried, convicted, and executed. 

* The facts respecting this expedition have been collected and furnished to tha 
autlior by John J. Shew, of Northampton, N. Y» 

t Campbell's Annals. 



1778.] MASSACRE IN SCHOHARIE. 311 

meadow, happening to turn round, perceived an Indian very 
near him. Startled at his perilous situation, he raised his rake 
for defence, but his fears were instantly dissipated by the 
savage, who said — " Do not be afraid, young man ; I shall not 
" hurt you." He then inquired of the youth for the residence 
of a loyalist named Foster. The lad gave him the proper di- 
rection, and inquired of the Indian whether he knew Mr. 
Foster ? "I am partially acquainted with him," was the reply, 
" having once seen him at the Half-way Creek."* The Indian 
then inquired the lad's name, and having been informed, he 
added — " You are a son of Captain M'Kown who lives in the 
" north-east part of the town, I suppose : I know your father 
'• very well : he lives neighbor to Captain M'Kean : I know 
" M'Kean very well, and a very fine fellow he is, too." Em 
boldened by the familiar discourse of the Indian, the lad ven- 
tured to ask his name in turn. Hesitating for a moment, his 
rather unwelcome visiter replied : — ''• My name is Brant !" 
" What ! Captain Brant ?" eagerly demanded the youth. " No : 
" I am a cousin of his," was the rejoinder ; but accompanied by 
a smile and a look that plainly disclosed the transparent de- 
ception. It was none other than the terrible Thayendanegea 
himselft 

On the other hand, the following tragic circumstance, given 
on the same indisputable authority, sustains the assertion that 
the Tories were oftentimes more cruel than their savage asso- 
ciates. While a party of hostiles were prowling about the 
borders of Schoharie, the Indians killed and scalped a mother, 
and a large family of children. " They had just completed the 
" work of death, when some loyalists of the party came up, and 
" discovered an infant breathing sweetly in its cradle. An In- 
" dian warrior, noted for his barbarity, approached the cradle 
" with his uplifted hatchet. The babe looked up in his face, 
" and smiled ; the feelings of nature triumphed over the ferocity 
" of the savage ; the hatchet fell with his arm, and he was 
" about stooping down to take the innocent in his arms, when 
'' one of the loyalists, cursing him for his humanity, thrust it 
'•through with his bayonet, and, thus transfixed, held it up 

♦ Bowman's Creek, halfway between Cherry Valley and the Mohawk River, 
t Annals of Tryon County. 

44 



312 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

" struggling in the agonies of death, as he exclaimed — ' this, 
" ' too, is a rebel /' " 

To guard against these painful transactions, nothing short of 
the most exemplary watchfulness would suffice. Not only 
their habitations, but those who labored in the fields, were 
guarded, being themselves armed at their ploughs, like the la- 
borers of the prophet in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Nor 
was this vigilance confined to any particular location. The 
inhabitants around the whole border, from Saratoga, north of 
Johnstown, and west to the German Flatts, thence south 
stretching down to Unadilla, and thence eastwardly crossing 
the Susquehanna, along the Charlotte river to Harpersfield, 
and thence back to Albany — were necessarily an armed yeo- 
manry, watching for themselves, and standing sentinels for 
each other in turn ; harassed daily by conflicting rumors ; 
now admonished of the approach of the foe in the night by 
the glaring flames of a neighbor's house ; or compelled sud- 
denly to escape from his approach, at a time and in a direction 
the least expected. Such was the tenure of human existence 
around the confines of this whole district of country, from the 
Spring of 1777 to the end of the contest in 1782. 

The first movement of Brant himself, this season, (1778,) was 
upon the settlement of Springfield, a small town at the head of 
Otsego Lake, lying directly west of Cherry Valley, about ten 
miles. Those of the men who did not fly, were taken prison- 
ers. The chieftain then burnt the entire settlement, with the 
exception of a single house, into which he collected all the 
women and children, and left them uninjured. 

It was reported in the month of June, that Brant, whose 
forces were increasing at Unadilla, was fortifying that post ; 
and Captain M-Kean was despatched with a small patrol in 
that direction, by the people of Cherry Yalley, to make obser- 
vations. Arriving at a heuse about twenty-five miles from that 
place, M'Kean was informed that Brant had been there 
with fifty men, that day, and would probably return in the even- 
ing. M'Kean was at first disposed to take possession of the 
house, and attempt its defence — his force consisting of but five 
men, exclusive of himself. But, ultimately forming a more 
prudent resolution, he withdrew -'his forces" before nightfall, 
and returned home without liaving reconnoitred the chieftain's 



1778.] BATTLE AT COBLESKILL. 313 

position at Unadilla. In the course of his journey, he v/rote a 
letter to Brant, upbraiding him for the predatory system of war- 
fare in which he was engaged, and challenging him either to 
single combat, or to meet him with an equal number of men 
and have a pitched battle — •' adding, that if he would come to 
''■ Cherry Valley, they would change him from a Brant to a 
^^ goose.''^ This chivalrous missive was fastened to a stick, 
and placed in an Indian path. No modern post-office could 
have transmitted the letter with greater speed or safety. The 
" contents " were " noted " by Brant in a letter addressed to 
Mr. Parcifer Carr, a loyalist living some fifteen or twenty miles 
north, upon the Unadilla settlement, to whom the chief wrote 
for provisions. He also solicited Mr. Carr to allow two or 
three of his men to join him, and likewise to send him a few 
guns, with some ammunition — adding, " I mean now to fight 
the cruel rebels as well as I can." In a postscript, he intimated 
that the people of Cherry Valley, though very bold in words, 
would find themselves mistaken in calling him a "goose." 
Whether the challenge of Captain M'Kean, and the pun upon 
the chieftain's name, had any influence upon his subsequent 
conduct in that section of the country, is not known. 

On the 2d of July a smart engagement took place, on the 
upper branch of the Cobleskill, between a party of regular 
troops and Schoharie militia under Captain Christian Brown, 
and a large body of Indians. There were twenty-two militia- 
men and thirty regulars, the latter under charge of a lieutenant 
whose name has not been preserved. The Indians, by their 
own account, were four hundred and fifty strong. They were 
victorious — the Americans retreating with a loss of fourteen 
killed, eight wounded, and two missing. The Indians burnt 
several houses, killed and destroyed all the horses and cattle 
which they could not drive away, and took considerable plun- 
der besides. They remained in the woods adjoining the battle- 
ground one day and two nights, dressing the wounded, and 
packing up their booty, with which they retired unmolested.* 
Thenceforward, until the close of the war, the settlements of 

* The only account of this battle which the author has been able to discover, is 
contained in John M. Brown's pamphlet history of Schoharie. He states it to have 
taken place on the day preceding the massacre of Wyoming, but dates it in 1776, 
instead of 1778, which was doubtless the true date. 



314 LIFE OF BRANT. 1778. 

Schoharie were perpetually harassed by the strolling bands of 
the enemy, until at length they were entirely laid waste by a for- 
midable invasion. The principal of these settlements was the 
vale of the Schoharie-kill — doubly inviting from the beauty of 
its scenery and the fertility of its soil — which was even then 
thickly inhabited. But, although frequently doomed to suffer 
from the savage tomahawk, justice nevertheless demands 
the admission, that the first blood was drawn in that valley, 
and the first act of barbarity committed, by the white man, 
upon the body of an Indian sachem. 

The circumstances leading to the outrage were these : At an 
early stage of the contest, the officers of the Crown made a 
very strenuous effort to control the popular feeling, and pre- 
serve the loyalty of the people of Schoharie. For this purpose, 
not only the regular militia of the settlements, but all the male 
population capable of bearing arms, were required to meet the 
King's Commissioners at the house of Captain George Mann, 
a loyalist of great wealth and influence, to take the oath of alle- 
giance. They assembled in arms, and were kept on parade, 
day after day, as they slowly gathered at the place of rendez- 
vous in obedience to the requisition. Those who were loyal- 
ists at heart readily took the oath ; but great reluctance was 
manifested on the part of those whose predilections ran with 
the Whigs. These, however, were threatened with the pains 
and penalties of arrest, confiscation, and death, in case of re- 
fusal ; so that for the most part they complied with the demand 
of the Commissioners, and took the oath of fidelity to the Crown. 
Immediately on taking the oath, the hat of the subject was de- 
corated with a piece of scarlet cloth ; while some of those most 
strongly desirous of manifesting their loyalty, wore scarlet caps. 
Prominent among the latter class, were Lodwig Snyder, of the 
Duanesburg settlement,* and a Mohawk sachem named Peter 
Nickus, who gave offence to the Whigs by brandishing his 
tomahawk and occasionally sounding the war-whoop. 

But there were a few bold spirits upon whom, neither the 
threats of his Majesty's officers, nor the menaces of the Indians 
in their company, had any effect. They refused peremptorily 
to take the oath. Chief among these were Nicholas Sternberg 

* Snyder afterward abjured the lloyal cause, and discharged his duty Uiitlifully as 
AWhis. 



1778.] A SCENE IN SCHOHARIE. 315 

and William Deitz, who left the parade on the evening of the 
first or second day, and returned to their homes — bitterly de- 
nounced as rebels and traitors by the Royalists, and threatened 
with a visit of Tories and Indians during the night. To avoid 
an arrest, Sternberg took to the woods at evening, leaving his 
family in great anxiety, although the slaves, of whom he pos- 
sessed a large number, volunteered to defend their mistress and 
the children. But there was no pursuit, and the recusants both 
returned to the parade on the following day — determined, of 
course, to render all proper obedience to the laws yet in force, 
but equally determined not to take the oath of allegiance ; 
although Mrs. Sternberg besought her husband, with tears, not 
to jeopard his own safety, and the lives of his family, by longer 
refusal. Nay, she went farther ; and appealing to the Bible, the 
good woman showed him the passage in which all men are en- 
joined '' to fear God and honor the King." But it was with 
Sternberg as with the Puritans, He believed that " opposition 
to tyrants was obedience to God," as implicitly as did the re- 
gicides who engraved that immortal sentiment upon the New 
Haven rock ; and he was inflexible in his purpose. 

Fortunately, however, in the course of the day affairs took 
quite a different turn. It was at about the middle of the after- 
noon that Captain Mann mustered those who had taken the 
oath and received the red badge. They numbered one hun- 
dred and upward, and were paraded before the Captain's own 
house to perform their martial exercise, when their attention 
was arrested by the sound of steeds trampling in the dis- 
tance, A moment longer, and a cloud of horsemen came gal- 
loping along the highway from the direction of Albany, with 
drawn swords flashing brightly in the sun. These unexpected 
visiters proved to be Captain Woodbake, and two hundred 
cavalry, the object of whose approach was to disperse the Royal 
gathering and proclaim the government of the republic. 
Their arrival was exceedingly inopportune for Captain Mann, 
who was cut short in the midst of a loyal oration, in which he 
was commending his citizen-soldiers for their loyalty, and 
threatening those who refused the badge of their sovereign, 
with vengeance, swift and inevitable. As the cavalry ap- 
proached, Captain Mann took to his heels and fled ; while his 
loyal followers, many of whom had assumed the before-men- 



316 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778 

tioned insignia, and signed the royal muster-roll on compul- 
sion, either followed his example or threw away their red caps, 
and tore off the scarlet patches from their hats, with the utmost 
possible expedition. Orders were immediately issued by Cap- 
tain Woodbake that Mann should be taken and brought to 
him— alive, if possible, but if not — not. Numbers started in 
pursuit, while those who remained upon the ground were col- 
lected into line, and a proclamation was read to them by Captain 
Woodbake, declaring the Royal authority at an end — pronounc- 
ing the acts of the King's Commissioners null and void — and 
absolving the people from the oath of allegiance just taken, 
upon the ground that, by the laws neither of God nor man, are 
oaths binding which have been taken upon compulsion. Com- 
mending those who had refused to take the oath for their 
patriotism, he informed them that a Committee of Safety must 
be appointed, who would temporarily be invested with the civil 
and military authority of the district, and until, by elections and 
otherwise, the government could be organized in a more regular 
manner. Nicholas Sternberg and William Deitz were there- 
upon nominated by Woodbake to serve as said Committee, and 
invested orally with all necessary power for the government of 
the district ; and the people were enjoined to obedience. 

The affairs of the government having thus been settled, all 
hands were ordered in pursuit of Captain Mann, and sentinels 
were posted at different points of observation. Among these 
was Mr. Sternberg's eldest son Lambert, who was stationed by 
the side of a wheat-stack, sheltered by a roof of thatch upon 
four posts.* The orders were strict, that if Mann would not 
surrender, he must be shot. Toward evening, on the approach 
of a thunder-gust, young Sternberg, who was a lad of only 
sixteen years, climbed to the top of the wheat-stack for shelter, 
where, to his great surprise, he stumbled upon the loyal cap- 
tain. The youth informed him at once that he must surrender 
or be shot. The Captain implored for mercy — declaring that 
he dared not to surrender himself to Woodbake, because his 
life would be taken. The youth repeated that his orders were 
explicit, and he must surrender or be shot. But Mann had 



* These structures in new countries, where barns are not large enough to shelter 
the produce, are called barracks. 



1778.] A SCENE IN SCHOHARIE. 317 

lived a neighbor to his father — had ever been kind to him — and 
liis heart failed at the thought of taking his life. He then pro- 
posed to the Captain to fire his musket by way of alarm, that 
others might come and take him. But this was objected to by 
Mann with equal earnestness. It now thundered and lighten- 
ed fearfully, while the rain descended in torrents. Watching 
his opportunity, therefore, and availing himself of the conflict 
of the elements, and that, also, which was working in the bo- 
som of his young neighbor so suddenly placed in hostile array 
against him, Mann contrived to spring from his hiding-place, 
and by sliding down upon one of the barrack-posts, effected his 
escape into a corn-field and thence into the woods. The 
stripling soldier fired, as in duty bound, but doubtless rejoiced 
that the shot was without effect. 

On the next day, information having been received that a 
body of Indians were lurking in the neighborhood of Middle- 
burg, a few miles farther up the valley, Captain Woodbake pro- 
ceeded thither with his squadron of horse. The only Indian 
seen was the before-mentioned sachem, Peter Nickus, who was 
discovered in a thicket of hazel bushes, and immediately brought 
to the ground by a shot that broke his thigh. . Several pistols 
were simultaneously snapped at him, but without effect: the 
troops then dismounted, and running upon the wounded Indian, 
inhumanly hacked him to pieces with their swords. Peter 
Nickus was therefore the first victim of the Revolution in the 
Valley of the Schoharie-kill, nor does it appear that he had 
himself been guilty of any act of positive hostility. 

All search for Captain Mann was for the time fruitless. He 
succeeded in escaping to the mountains, where he remained 
fifteen days ; but at length was induced to surrender through 
the intervention of friends, on condition that he should receive 
no personal injury. He was thereupon taken to Albany, and 
kept in confinement to the end of the war.* 

* The property of Captain Mann was not confiscated, and he was suffered to 
return and repossess himself of his estate, where he lived and died a faithful citizen 
of the republic. All the families named in this narrative were of great respectability, 
and their descendants are still in that section of country. The author has derived 
the facts of the four last preceding pages from a written narrative by the son of 
Nicholas Sternberg. It was thrown out of its proper chronological order, because 
not received until after this chapter was in the hands of the printer. 



CHAPTER XV. 



The story of Wyoming — Glance at its history — Bloody battle between the Shawa- 
nese and Delawares — Count Zinzendorf — Conflicting Indian claims and titles — 
Rival land companies of Connecticut and Pennsylvania — Murder of Tadeusund 
—The firfct Connecticut Colony destroyed by the Indians — Controversy respecting 
their titles — Rival Colonies planted in Wyomino; — The civil wars of Wyoming — 
Bold adventure of Captain Ogden — Fierce passions of the people — The Connecti- 
cut settlers prevail — Growth of the settlements — Annexed to Connecticut — Break- 
ing out of the Revolution— The inhabitants, stimulated by previous hatred, take sides 
— Arrest of suspected persons in January — Sent to Hartford — Evd consequences 
— The enemy appear upon the outskirts of the settlements in the Spring — Inv?- 
sion by Colonel John Butler and the Indians — Colonel Zebulon Butler prepares 
to oppose them — Two of the forts taken — Colonel Z. Butler marches to encounter 
the enemy — Battle of Wyoming — The Americans defeated — The flight and mas- 
sacre — Fort Wyoming besieged — Timidity of the garrison — Zebulon Butler's 
authority not sustained — He escapes from the fort — Colonel Denniston forced to 
capitulate — Destruction of the Valley — Barbarities of the Tories — Brant not in the 
expedition — Catharine Montour — Flight of the fugitives — Expedition of Colonel 
Hartley up the Susquehanna — Colonel Zebulon Butler repossesses himself of Wyo- 
ming, and rebuilds the fort — Indian skirmishes — Close of the History of Wyoming. 

The melancholy stoiy of Wyoming stands next in chrono- 
logical order. It does not, indeed, appertain directly to the 
history of the Mohawk Valley ; but it is nevertheless connected 
intimately with that history, while it has ever been regarded as 
one of the most prominent events in the border history of the 
Revolutionary contest. Its importance, moreover, as a section 
of the Indian portion of that contest, is such as to warrant the 
episode, if such it must be called. Many were the battles du- 
ring that struggle, of far greater importance than the affair of 
Wyoming, both in regard to their magnitude and their results ; 
and many were the scenes characterised by equal if not greater 
atrocity. But from a variety of circumstances, as well ante- 
cedent as subsequent to the battle, it has happened that no event 
connected with the aboriginal wars of our country stands out 
in bolder relief than that. Sixty years have elapsed since the 
tragedy of Wyoming was enacted ; the actors themselves are 
no more ; and yet the very mention of the event sends a chill 
current to every youthful heart, while the theatre of the action 
itself has been rendered classic as well as consecrated, by the 
undying numbers of one of the most gifted bards of the age. 
So long as English poetry exists, will the imaginary tale of 
Gertrude of Wvoming be read, admired, and wept ; and 



319 



I'^^^-J HISTORY OF \VYO?.Ii:sG, 

thousands, in every generation to cjnic, will receive the beau- 
tiful fiction for truth, while the details of fact by the faithful 
historian, rejecting the exaggerations of Ramsay and Gordon, 
and their associate writers of the revolutionary era, together 
with compilers more modern, who have taken no pains to inqiure 
for the truth, may be regarded as too common-place and unim- 
portant for attention. 

Wyoming is the name of a beautiful section of the vale of 
the Susquehanna, situated in the north-eastern part of the State 
of Pennsylvania. It is twenty-five miles in length, by about 
three in breadth, lying deep between two parallel ranges of 
mountains, crested with oak and pine. The scenery around is 
wild and picturesque, while the valley itself might be chosen 
for another paradise.* 

The possession of this valley has not been an object of the 
white man's ambition or cupidity alone. It has been the subject 
of controversy, and the fierce battle-ground of various Indian 
tribes, within the white man's time, but before his possession ; 
and from the remains of fortifications discovered there, so an- 
cient that the largest oaks and pines have struck root upon the 
ramparts and in the entrenchments, it must once have been the 
seat of power, and perhaps of a splendid court, thronged by 
chivcilry, and taste, and beauty— of a race of men far dtflerent 
from the Indians, known to us since the discovery of Columbus. 
It was here that the benevolent Count Zinzendorf pitched his 
tent, on commencing his Cln-istian labors among the Shawanese, 
and where he was saved from assassination by the providential 
intervention of a poisonous reptile. Originally it lay within 
the territory of the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware Indians • but 
It was claimed by the Six Nations by right of conquest.' In 
1742 a grand council of the chiefs and warriors of the Six 
Nations and Delawares was held in Philadelphia, in conse- 
quence of difficulties touching the title to certain lands lyino- 
within the forks of the Delaware, which the proprietaries ol" 

* Vyyoming is a corruption of the name given to the place by (he Delaware In 
a.ans, who called it Mauglmarcioame. The word is a compound; Mawrhtvau 
meaning large or extensive, and 2oame plains or meadows ; so that the name mav 
be translated « The Large Plains- In the language of the Six Nations, Wyoming 
was called Sgahontowa7io, or « Tke Large Flatts." 'Gahonto meaning, in tlieir Ian" 
guage, a large piece of ground without trees._ CAapma^V imiory of Wyominsr 



320 LIFE OF tRANT. [1778. 

Pennsylvania alleged that William Penn had purchased of 
the Delawares, but which the Delawares yet retained in pos- 
session, while at the same time the Six Nations claimed the 
ownership. The Governor of Pennsylvania having explained 
the state of the case to the council, reminded the chiefs of the 
Six Nations that, inasmuch as they had always required the ' 
government of Pennsylvania to remove such whites as intruded 
upon their lands, so now the government expected the Six 
Nations to remove the Indians from the lands which it had 
purchased.* Old Cannassateego was the master spirit of the 
Iroquois delegation on this occasion ; and, after due consideration, 
he pronounced the decision of his associate chiefs. He rebuked 
the Delawares in the sharpest terms for their dishonesty and 
duplicity, in first selling land which did not belong to them, 
and even then retaining possession of it themselves. He 
taunted them for their degraded condition, as having been con- 
quered and made women of by his people, and after an indig- 
nant philippic, ordered them to leave the disputed territory, and 
remove to Wyoming or Shamokin. 

The commands of the Six Nations were neither to be ques- 
tion nor disregarded, by the surrounding Indian nations, at that 
stage of their history, and the clan of the Delawares occupying 
the land in dispute, forthwith removed to Wyoming, then in 
the partial occupancy of a clan of the Shawanese. But the 
latter were friendly to the Six Nations at that time, and were 
saifered to retain possession of the west side of the river, while 
the Delawares planted themselves down upon the east, and 
built their town of Maiighwauwame — the original of Wyoming. 

But the close proximity of the two clans or parts of nations, 
was no addition to their hap])iness. Mutual jealousies were 
entertained ; and no long period of time elapsed before their 
animosities were sharpened into actual hostilities upon the 
smallest provocation. At length there was cause for more sub- 
stantial war. On the breaking out of hostilities between the 
French and American Colonies, in what is now called the old 
French war, the Shawanese espoused the side of the French, 
while the Six Nations and Delawares adhered to the English. 
Still the two Indian communities in Wyoming did not actually 
take up arms in that contest, until the occurrence of an inci- 

♦ Chapman's History of Wyoming. 



1778.] HISTORY OP WYOMING. 321 

dent which, it is believed, may be set down for tlie smallest cause 
of war as yet recorded in history. It happened one day, while 
the Delaware warriors were upon the chase among the moun- 
tains, that their women and children were gathering fruit along 
the margin of the river below their town. While thus engaged, 
a party of the Shawanese women and children paddled their 
canoes across the river and joined them. In the. course ot the 
morning a Shawanese child caught a large grasshopper — the 
species, probably, having parti-colored wings — and a quarrel 
arose among the children for the possession of the insect. In 
this quarrel the mothers soon began to participate, and an 
Amazonian battle was the consequence. The Delaware squaws 
contended that the Shawanese had no right to trespass upon 
their side of the river ; and after several had been killed upon 
both sides, the latter, who were the weaker party, were driven 
to the canoes, and their own homes. 

Upon the return of the warriors of the respective tribes, both 
prepared to avenge the wrongs of their wives and children. 
The Shawanese were the invaders ; but they were met at the 
river's brink by the Delawares, nothing averse to the combat, 
who obstinately opposed their landing from their canoes. 
Great numbers were killed, chiefly of the Shawanese, before 
they gained the shore. Succeeding in this however, a battle, 
furious and bloody, was fought about a mile below the Dela- 
ware town, in which several hundreds were killed on both 
sides. The Shawanese, whose forces had been greatly weak- 
ened at the landing, were at length overpowered, and obliged 
to escape as best they could, with the loss of half their number. 
The consequence of this defeat was the immediate evacuation 
of the valley, which they left, to join the greater body of their 
nation on the Ohio.* To the Delawares, who had been op- 
pressed and denationahzed by the Iroquois or Six Nations, the 
victory was of great importance — re-establishing, as it did, their 
character as brave warriors, although it was not until many 
years afterward that the sentence of being considered women 
was revoked by their former conquerors. 

Still, at the time when Count Zinzendorf commenced the 
mission of the United Brethren in that valley, the jurisdiction 

* Chapman's History of Wyoming. 



322 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

was conceded to belong to the Six Nations ; and a formal per- 
mission was given to the count by the latter, to preach the Gos- 
pel among tliem. He was met by a numerous embassy of their 
chiefs, from whom he received a speech of welcome, which at 
once laid the foundation of a good understanding between 
them.* But, notwithstanding this admitted superiority of the 
Iroquois in the time of Sir William Johnson, the rival and con- 
flicting Indian claims of title were the cause of rival negotia- 
tions between the white land-speculators and both nations of 
Indians, which in the end were the cause of many and very 
sore evils, as will presently appear. 

The first movement toward the planting of a white colony 
in the Wyoming Valley was made by Connecticut in 1753. It 
was justly held that this section of country belonged originally 
to the grant of James I., in 1620, to the old Plymouth Company. 
The Earl of Warwick and his associates having purchased the 
right of the Plymouth Company to the territory of Connecticut 
and the lands beyond New Jersey, west, "from sea to sea," 
within certain limits, Connecticut claimed under that grant. 
But no sooner was a company formed to plant a colony in 
Wyoming — called the Susquehanna Company — than Penn- 

* Heckewelder. The incident of the serpent, referred to in a preceding page, 
was as follows : — Jealous of the Count's intentions in coming among them, 
some of the Indians had resolved upon liis death. " Zinzcndorf was alone in his 
tent, seated upon a bundle of weeds composing his bed, and engaged in writing, 
when the assassins approached to execute their bloody commission. It was night, 
and the cool air of September had rendered a fire necessary to his comfort. A blanket 
curtain was the only guard to the entrance of his tent. The heat of his fire had 
drawn fortli a large rattlesnake from the contiguous brake ; and the reptile, to enjoy 
the genial warmth, had crawled slowly into the tent, and passed over one of the holy 
man's legs unpercoived. Without, all was still and quiet, except the distant sound 
of the river at the rapids a mile below. At this moment the Indians soflly approached 
the door of his tent, and gently removing the curtain, contemplated the venerable 
man, too deeply engaged in tlie subject of his thoughts to observe either their ap- 
proach or the serpent which lay extended before him. At a sight like this, even the 
heart of the savages shrank from the idea of committing the barbarous act, and they 
hastily returned to their lodge, and informed their companions that the Great Spirit 
protected the stranger, for they had found him with no door but a blanket, and had 
seen a large rattlesnake crawl over his legs without attempting to injure him." 
This circumstance wrought as great a change as did the incident of the viper, after 
the shipwreck, in the fortunes of Paul. The Count soon acquired the confidence of 
the Indians ; and the occurrence probably contributed essentially toward inducing 
many of them subsequently to embrace the Christian religion. — ChapmaiVs His. 
IVyoming. 



1778.] HISTORY OP WYOMING. 323 

sylvania preferred a claim to the same territory, under a grant 
Irom Charles II. to William Penn, in 1681, covering the whole 
claim of Connecticut ; and a rival association, called the Dela- 
icare Co?npani/, was organised in like manner to settle it. 
The strife of each, at fijrst, was to circumvent the other in pur- 
chasing the Indian title. At this time it was conceded that the 
aboriginal proprietaries were the Six Nations ; and, though beset 
on all sides, old King Hendrick refused for a time to dispose of 
the territory to either party. Ultimately, however, the Six 
Nations sold to the Susquehanna Company ; and in 1755 the 
Connecticut Colony was commenced. But by reason of the 
French and Indian wars, their settlers were compelled to re- 
turn to Connecticut, and the obstacles became so numerous, that 
it was not until 1762 that they were enabled to obtain a foot- 
hold. 

The Pennsylvanians immediately prepared to oppose the 
settlers from Connecticut. A case was made up and trans- 
mitted to England, on which Mr. Pratt, the Attorney General, 
(afterward Lord Camden,) gave an opinion in favor of the suc- 
cessors of Penn. Connecticut likewise sent over a case, and 
on her part obtained a like favorable opinion from eminent 
counsel. In this position of the controversy, a catastrophe be- 
fel the infant settlement, which put an end to the enterprise for 
several years. Thus far the relations between the Colonists 
and the Indians had been of the most pacific character. The 
old Delaware chief Tadeuskund, who had embraced the Chris- 
tian religion, was, with his people, their friend. But he had 
given offence to some of the Six Nations in 1 758, a party of 
Avhom came among the Delawares, under the guise of friend- 
ship, in April, 1763, and murdered the venerable chief by set- 
ting fire to his dwelling, in which he was consumed.* The 
murder was charged by the Indians upon the adventurers from 
Connecticut. But the emigrants, unconscious that a storm was 

* Tadeuskund was a Delaware chief of note. Previous to the year 1750, he was 
known among the Enghsh by the name of Hojipst John. He was baptized by the 
Moravians, but was wavering and in-jonstant. He was too fond of the war-path to 
become a consistent follower of the {.acitic Moravians. When he saw opportunities 
of signahzing himself as a warrior, therefore, he left his faith, to re-embrace it as 
might suit his policy. He inchned to the French in the war; but assisted in con- 
cluding a peace among several Indian nations in 1758, which gave umbrage to the 
Six Nations. 



324 , LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

rising against them, remained in fancied security. They had 
given no offence ; and in order to allay any suspicions that 
might otherwise be awakened among the Indians, they had 
even neglected to provide themselves with weapons for self- 
protection. The consequence was the sudden destruction of 
their settlement by a party of Delaware Indians, on the 15th 
of October. The descent was made upon the town while the 
men were at work in the fields. About twenty persons were 
killed, and several were taken prisoners. Those who could, 
men, women, and children, fled to the woods and the moun- 
tains, from whence they were compelled to behold the sad 
spectacle of their dwellings in flames, and the Indians making 
off" with the remains of their little property. Their flight 
through a trackless forest to the Delaware, unprovided with 
food, and unprotected by suitable clothing against the searching 
weather of Autumn, was painful to a degree. But even then 
their journey was not ended, as they had yet to proceed back 
to Connecticut, destitute, and on foot. 

In 1668 the Delaware Company took advantage of a treaty 
holden at Fort Stanwix, and purchased of the same Six Nations, 
who had sold to the Connecticut Company, the same territory 
of Wyoming. The Pennsylvanians entered upon immediate 
possession ; and when, on the opening of the ensuing Spring, 
the Connecticut Colonists returned with recruits, they found 
others in the occupancy of the lands, with a block-house erected, 
and armed for defence, under the direction of Amos Ogden 
and Charles Stewart, to whom a lease of a section of land in 
the heart of the valley had been granted by John Penn, for 
the express purpose of ousting the Connecticut claimants. 
Here was a new and unexpected state of things. Some of the 
leading men of the Connecticut Colony were decoyed into the 
block-house, arrested, and sent off to a distant prison. But re- 
cruits coming on from Connecticut, they in turn built works of 
defence, and proceeded with their colonial labors. 

In the Summer of 1769, the Governor of Pennsylvania made 
preparations to dispossess the intruders, as they considered the 
Connecticut people, by force ; and a detachment of armed men, 
to the number of two hundred, was sent into the territory. 
The Colonists prepared for a siege ; but one of their leaders 
having been taken prisoner, and sent to gaol in Philadelphia, 



1778,] HISTORY OF WYOMING. 325 

after a show of resistance, and having no weapons of defence 
but smaU arms, they capitulated, and agreed to leave the ter- 
ritory, with the exception of seventeen families, who were to 
remain and secure the crops. But no sooner had the Colonists 
departed, than the Pennsylvanians, led by Ogden, plundered 
the whole colony, destroying their fields of grain, killing their 
cattle, and laying the whole settlement in ruin ; so that the 
seventeen families were compelled to fly from starvation. 

In the month of Feburary, 1770, the Connecticut Colonists 
rallied, and marched upon Wyoming, under a man named La 
zarus Stewart. They took Ogden's house and his piece of ar- 
tillery, during his absence. But on his return he collected his 
friends, and hostilities ensued between the two parties, which 
were prosecuted with varying success for several weeks. 
During this time, an engagement occurred, in which several 
were killed and wounded on both sides. Ogden's house, which 
had been fortified, was besieged, and finally taken — after several 
days' cannonading, and the destruction of one of his block- 
houses, containing his supplies, by fire. In the terms of capi- 
tulation the Connecticut party allowed Ogden to leave six men 
in charge of his remaining property. But the conduct of Og- 
den the preceding year had not been forgotten, and the lex ta- 
lionis was rigidly and speedily executed. 

In September following, a force of one hundred and fifty men 
was sent against the Connecticut settlers, under the command 
of Captain Ogden, as he was now called. He took the settle- 
ment entirely by surprise, while the laborers were in the fields 
at work, and the women and children in the fort. Many of 
the men, nevertheless, reached the fort, and prepared to defend 
it ; but it was carried by assault in the night — the women and 
children were barbarously trampled under foot — and the whole 
settlement plundered and destroyed the following day, with 
more than Indian rapacity. The Colonists were made prisoners, 
and sent off to distant gaols. Thus was the settlement again 
broken up. But the triumph of Ogden was brief In Decem- 
ber the fort was again surprised and carried by Captain Stew- 
art, at the head of some Lancastrians united with the late Co- 
lonists. A few of the men fled naked to the woods ; but the 
greater portion, together with the women and children, residing 
for security in houses built within the ramparts, were taken 



326 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

prisoners. Those, liaving been deprived of their property, were 
driven from the valley. 

The parties to these controversies, which could not but en- 
gender all the bitterest passions in the nature of man — render- 
ing what might have been a second Eden, a theatre of strife, 
discord, and " hell-born hate," — fought, of course, as they pre- 
tended, under the jurisdiction of the respective States to which 
tliey assumed to belong. The civil authorities of Pennsylva- 
nia frequently interposed ; and after the burning of Ogden's 
block-house, attempts were made to arrest several of the Con- 
necticut party for arson. Stewart was apprehended, but was 
soon afterward rescued. 

After the capture of the fort in December, the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania once more issued a writ for his arrest, 
and the sheriff was sent with the posse at his heels ; but the 
garrison would not admit him. The fort was fired upon by 
the posse, under the direction of the sheriff, and in returning 
the fire, one of the Ogdens (Nathan) was killed. The sheriff 
thereupon drew off his forces for the night. But it was no 
sooner dark, than Stewart and forty of his men withdrew from 
the fortress, leaving a garrison of only twelve persons, who ca- 
pitulated on the following morning. Three hundred pounds 
reward was offered by the Governor of Pennsylvania for the 
arrest of Stewart. The fort was left in charge of Amos Ogden, 
who induced most of his former associates to return with him. 
In July following, this important post was again doomed to 
change hands. The Colony was invaded by Captain Zebulon 
Butler, with upward of seventy men. These being joined by 
Stewart and his party, they immediately took possession of the 
lands, while Ogden with his people, to the number of eighty- 
two, retired into the new fort of Wyoming, which they had just 
built, and prepared for resistance. The contest was now as- 
suming greater importance than ever. Butler and Stewart at 
once invested the fortress, and recruits arriving from Connecti- 
cut, they were enabled to throw up redoubts, and open en- 
trenchments for a regular siege. This new fort was planted 
directly upon the bank of the river. Perceiving himself thus 
completely shut in, Ogden formed the bold enterprise of leaving 
his garrison in the night, and floating down the river, past the 
works and the sentinels of the enemy, in order to repair to Phila- 



1778.] HISTORY OF WYOMING. 327 

delphia for succors. For the purpose of better securing his es- 
cape, by means of a cord he caused a bundle to be floated along 
in the river following him, which, being the most perceptible 
object, would naturally attract the attention and receive the 
fire of the enemy, if discovered. The ruse de guerre was 
completely successful. The deceptive object did attract the 
attention of the besiegers and received their fire ; although 
Ogden himself was in immediate peril, since his hat and clothes 
were riddled with bullets. He nevertheless escaped to Phila- 
delphia, and is entitled to the credit of performing one of the 
boldest and most difficult individual exploits on record. 

In consequence of these tidings, the government ordered a 
force of one hundred men to be sent to the relief of Fort Wyo- 
ming, commanded by Colonel Asher Clayton. These were to 
be separated into two divisions, and marched to the fort from 
difierent directions. Captain Dick, with one division, proceed- 
ed toward the fort with pack-horses of provisions for one hun- 
dred men. When in its neighborhood, however, he was am- 
buscaded by the troops of Butler and Stewart, and thrown into 
confusion by the fire. Twenty-two of the party succeeded in 
getting into the fort, and the remainder, with four pack-horses 
of provisions, fell into the hands of Butler. The siege conti- 
nued, and was prosecuted with great vigor until the 14th of 
August, when, his supplies being exhausted, Colonel Clayton, 
the assailant, capitulated — stipulating that his troops, together 
with Ogden and his party, should withdraw from Wyoming, 
Ogden was wounded during the siege, and a second shot killed 
another officer, named William Ridyard, upon whom the 
former was leaning, being faint from loss of blood. 

The president of the Pennsylvania proprietaries complained 
of the conduct of the Connecticut people in these hostilities, 
and Gov^ernor Trumbull disclaimed any connexion with the 
affairs of Wyoming on the part of the State over which he 
presided. But as the Connecticut people continued to pour 
reinforcements into the settlement, the Pennsylvanians with- 
drew their forces, and for a season made no farther attempts 
upon the territory. 

The settlers now claimed the protection of Connecticut, the 
governmpnt of which attempted a mediation between the peo- 
ple of Wyoming and the government of Pennsylvania — but 
4(i 



328 LIFE OP BRANT. [1778. 

without success. Meantime the people of the Colony proceed- 
ed to organize a government, and to exercise almost all the 
attributes of sovereignty. The general laws of Connecticut 
were declared to be in force ; but for their local legislation, 
they organized a pure democracy — the people of all their towns 
and settlements meeting in a body, as in Athens of old, and 
making their laws for themselves. The legislature of Connec- 
ticut extended its broad asgis over them, framed a new county 
called Westmoreland, and attached it to the county of Litch- 
field in the parent State. Zebulon Butler and Nathan Dennis- 
ton were appointed justices of the peace, and the people sent 
one representative to the Legislature of Connecticut. The 
governments of Connecticut and Pennsylvania kept up a war 
of proclamations and edicts upon the subject, while the settle- 
ment advanced in population and extent with unexampled 
rapidity. 

Thus matters proceeded until the year 1775, when, just after 
hostilities had been commenced between the Colonies and the 
British troops at Lexington, the old feuds between the settlers 
of the rival companies suddenly broke forth again. A new 
settlement of the one was attacked by the militia of the other, 
one man was killed, several were wounded, and others made 
prisoners, and carried off to a distant jail. Other outrages 
were committed elsewhere, and of course all the angry pas- 
sions — all the bitter feelings of hatred and revenge between the 
rival parties claiming the soil and the jurisdiction — broke out 
afresh. The settlements of each had become extended during 
the five years of peace, which of course had multiplied the 
parties to the contest ; so that, as the men of Wyoming flew to 
arms, a more formidable civil war than ever was in prospect, at 
the moment when every arm should have been nerved in the 
common cause of the whole country.* 

Congress being now in session, interposed its authority by 
way of mediatorial resolutions. But to no purpose. The in- 
terposition was repeated, and again disregarded. In the mean- 

* At this lime the settlements consisted of eight townships, viz : Lackawana, 
Exeter, Kingston, Wilkesbarr6, Plymouth, Nanticoke, Huntington, and Salem ; 
each containing five miles square. The six townships were pretty full of inhabit- 
ants ; the two upper ones had comparatively few, thinly scattered.— .5/»ion.'s Re- 
membrancer, for 1778. 



1778.] HISTORY OF WYOMING. 329 

time the Pennsylvanians brought seven hundred men into the 
field, who were marched against Wyoming under the direction 
of Colonel Plunkett. But in ascending the west bank of the 
Susquehanna, on coming to a narrow defile, naturally defended 
by a rocky buttress, their march was suddenly arrested by a 
volley of musketry. An instant afterward the invaders dis- 
cerned that the rocky parapets were covered with men bristling 
in arms — prepared for a Tyrolese defence of tumbling rocks 
down upon the foe, should their firearms prove insufficient to 
repel him. Taken thus suddenly and effectively by surprise, 
Plunkett retreated with his forces behind a point of rocks, for 
consultation. He next attempted to cross the river, and resume 
his march on the other side. But here, too, the people of 
Wyoming had been too quick for him. The invaders were 
so hotly received by a detachment in ambuscade on the other 
side, that they were constrained to retreat, nor did they attempt 
to rally again. 

Thus terminated the last military demonstration of the Pro- 
vincial government of Pennsylvansa against the valley of Wy- 
oming. Never, however, had a civil war raged with more 
cordial hatred between the parties — not even during the bloody 
conflicts between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines — than was 
felt between the adherents of the respective land companies, in 
the collisions just passed under review. Most unfortunate was 
it, therefore, that the quarrel broke out afresh at the precise 
moment when the services of all were alike wanted for the com- 
mon defence — especially on a border exposed to the daily irrup- 
tions of the Indians. 

Nor was this the only evil. There being a wide difference 
of opinion between the people in almost every section of the 
country, on the great question at issue between the parent 
country and the Colonies, it was natural to anticipate that such 
of these contending parties as adhered to the Royalist cause, 
would cherish a twofold enmity toward those republicans who 
had been previously in arms against them. These feelings of 
hostility were of course mutual ; and as many of the adherents 
of the Delaware Company, and perhaps some from both fac- 
tions, early escaped to the enemy, and enrolled themselves un- 
der the banners of Sir John Johnson and Colonel John Butler, 
there can be no difficulty in accounting for the peculiar ferocity 



330 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

which marked the conduct of such of the refugees as returned 
in arms against their former beUigerent neighbors.* 

The population of the Wyoming settlements, at the com- 
mencement of the war, numbered five thousand souls. Three 
companies of regular troops were enlisted among them for the 
service of the United States. Their militia, regularly enrolled, 
amounted to eleven hundred men capable of bearing arms, and 
of this force three hundred entered the army ;t so prolific was 
their; soil, and so industrious were the people, that they were 
enabled to furnish large supplies of provisions for the army. 
Three thousand bushels of grain were sent thence to the army 
in the Spring of the presput year. The same plan of watchful- 
ness against the scouts and scalping parties of the enemy was 
adopted as in other frontier settlements, and the utmost vigi- 
lance was observed ; while regular garrison duty was, in suc- 
cessive turns, performed by the citizen soldiers in the several 
fortifications which defended their valley. 

Some faint demonstrations were made by straggling parties 
of Tories and Indians, who prowled about the settlements 
during the Sunnner of the preceding year, while St. Leger was 
besieging Fort Schuyler ; but after a few skirmishes with the 
inhabitants they dispersed, and the latter remained undis- 
turbed during the rest of the year. Still, an impression that 
some of the Tories, who had been in arms against them, or 
who had been instrumental in bringing the Indians upon them, 
were yet lurking in the vicinity, and bent upon mischief, left 
the people not altogether at ease ; and in the month of January, 
1778, twenty-seven suspected inhabitants were arrested. Nine 
of these were discharged on examination, for want of sufficient 
evidence to warrant their detention ; while the remaining eigh- 
teen were sent to Hartford, in Connecticut, and imprisoned. 
The nine who were first discharged, immediately fled to the 
enemy, and were followed thither by such of their suspected 
associates as were subsequently set at liberty in Connecticut. 

* This sketch of the preliminary history of Wyoming, rapid as it is, has never- 
theless oocasioned a longer digression than was intended ; but it has seemed neces- 
sary to the deduction of something like a just hypothesis, by which to judge of the 
peculiar features of the battle of Wyoming and the massacre that followed. 

t See Chapman's History of Wyoming — also Memorial to the Connecticut Le- 
gislature. 



1778.] HISTORY OF WYOMING. 331 

It was but natural that these proceedings still more embittered 
the feelings of these Loyalists against the Whigs, and the 
effect was soon perceptible in the behavior of the Tories and 
Indians occasionally patroling their borders. 

For a time, however, the apprehensions thus excited were 
allayed by several pacific messages from the Indian nations 
deeper in the interior, who sent parties of runners with assu- 
rances of a desire for peace. But these assurances were 
deceptive. Instead of being messengers of peace, it was 
ascertained in March, from one of them while in a state of 
intoxication, that their business was to amuse the people and 
allay their fears while preparations were making to attack 
them. This Indian, with his associate warriors, was imme- 
diately arrested and placed in confinement, while the women of 
the party were sent back with a flag. The alarm was likewise 
given to the scattered and remote settlers, some of them living 
thirty miles up the river, who thereupon immediately sought 
for greater security in the more populous towns. During the 
months of April and May, the settlements began to be more 
considerably annoyed by larger parties of Tories and Indians, 
who hung upon their borders, and made frequent incursions 
among them for purposes of plunder — robbing the people, as 
opportunity aftbrded. of live stock, grain, and other articles oi 
provisions. Waxing yet more audacious in June, several mur- 
ders were committed. Six of these victims were a mother and 
her five children, who were doubtless killed under a misappre- 
hension as to her character, since the woman was the wife of 
one of the Tories who had been arrested in January. The 
houses and plantations of the slain were of course plundered of 
every thing of value wliich the marauders could carry away.* 

Toward the close of June, the British officers in command 
at Niagara determined to strike a blow upon these settlements ; 
for which purpose about three hundred white men, consisting 
in part of regular troops, but principally of refugee Loyalists, 
under the command of Colonel John Butler, together with 
about five hundred Indians, marched in that direction. Arriv- 
ing at Tioga Pointy Butler and the Indian leaders t procured 

* Almon's Remembrancer, 1778 — Second Part. 

t It is difficult to ascertain with certainty from what tribes or nations these In- 
dians were drawn. It will be seen by a note a few pages onward, that there is rea- 



332 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

floats and rafts, upon which they embarked their forces, and, 
descending the Susquehanna, landed at a place called the 
Three Islands, whence they marched about twenty miles, and 
crossing a wilderness, entered the valley of Wyoming through 
a gap of the mountain near its northern extremity.* They 
took possession of two small forts, without opposition, on the 2d 
of July — the first of which was called the Exeter fort. It was 
said the garrison consisted chiefly of Tories, who treacherously 
surrendered it to the enemy. The other was the fort of Lack- 
awana, where the enemy encountered some resistance. But it 
was soon carried, a magistrate named Jenkins being killed, to- 
gether with his family, and several others, mostly women and 
children, made prisoners. One of these forts was burnt.t In 
the other, the proper name of which was Fort Wintermoot, 
Colonel John Butler established his head-quarters. 

The inhabitants, on receiving intelligence of the approach of 
the invaders, assembled within a fortification four miles below, 
called Fort Forty, from the circumstance of its having been 
occupied by forty men, at some period of the antecedent 
troubles of the Colony. Colonel Zebulon Butler, whose name 
has occurred several times in the preceding summary of the 
history of Wyoming, was in command of about sixty regular 
troops, and he now made every exertion to muster the militia 
of the settlements. But in his official despatch he complained, 
that as the women and children had fled to the several forts, of 
which there were seven within the distance of ten miles along 
the valley, the men, too many of them, would remain behind 
to take care of them. Still, he succeeded in collecting about 
three hundred of the militia, and commenced his march to 
meet the enemy on the 1st of July, in connexion with the 
regular troops before mentioned, commanded by Captain Hew- 
ett. On their first advance, they fell in with a scout of In- 
dians, of whom they killed two. These savages had just mur- 
dered nine men engaged at work in a corn-field.+ Not being 
supplied with provisions, Colonel Zebulon Butler § was obliged 

son to suppose they were from Detroit, and were led by an officer of the British ser- 
vice. Certainly they had no chiefs of any considerable note among them. 

* Marshall's Life of Washington. t The Remembrancer. 

} Colonel Z. Butler's letter. 

§ It is necessary to repeat the Christian names of both the Butlers, to avoid confu- 
sion — that being the surname of both the opposing commanders. 



1778.] INVASION OF WYOMING. 333 

to fall back upon Fort Forty, while his militia procured sup- 
plies. They mustered again on the 3d, and a council of war 
was convened. Messengers having been despatched to the 
head-quarters of General Washington for assistance, immediate- 
ly after the enemy's movements were known at Wyoming, 
Colonel Z. Butler was desirous of waiting for reinforcements. 
But his officers and men were impatient for a trial of strength.* 
The messengers had already been gone so long, that it was 
supposed they had been cut off, and consequently that General 
Washington was ignorant of their situation. In that case no 
reinforcements could reach them in season to save their valley 
from being ravaged ; and as the enemy's forces were daily in- 
creasing, it was held to be the part of wisdom to attack him at 
once. 

While the question was under debate, five officers arrived 
from the Continental army, who, on hearing the tidings of the 
meditated invasion, had thrown up their commissions and 
hastened home to protect their families. They had heard no- 
thing of the messengers, and intimated that there was no pros- 
pect of speedy assistance.! The discussions were animated ; 
but the apprehension, that in the event of longer delay the ene- 
my would become too powerful for them, and thus be enabled 
to sweep through their valley and destroy their harvest, was 
so strong, and the militia were so sanguine of being able to 
meet and vanquish the enemy, that Colonel Butler yielded, and 
set forward at the head of nearly four hundred men. Colonel 
Denniston, his former associate in the commission of the peace, 
being his second in command. 

It was intended to make a quick movement, and take the 
enemy by surprise. Having approached within two miles of 
Fort Wintermootjt a small reconnoitring party was sent forward 

* Marshall. f Chapman. 

J The fort was thus called after the proprietor of the land whereon it was 
built, and the adjacent territory— a distinguished Tory named Wintermoot. He 
was active in bringing destruction upon the valley, and, after doing all the mischief 
he could to the settlement, removed to Canada. During the war with England in 
1812-15 — while the British were investing Fort Erie, a son of old Mr. Wintermoot, 
a lieutenant in the enemy's service, was killed by a volunteer from the neighborhood 
of Wyoming. Young Wintermoot was reconnoitring one of the American pickets, 
when he was shot down by the said volunteer, who was engaged in the same ser- 
vice against a picket of the enemy. The volunteer returned into the fort, bringing 
in the arms and commission of the officer he had slain as a trophy. 



334 LIFE OF BRANT [1778- 

for observation. They ascertained that the enemy were ca- 
rousing in their huts in perfect security ; but on their return 
they were so unfortunate as to fall in with an Indian scout, 
who immediately fired and gave the alarm.* The Provincials 
pushed rapidly forward ; but the British and Indians were pre- 
pared to receive them — " their line being formed a small dis- 
" tance in front of their cam)), in a plain thinly covered with 
" pine, shrub-oaks, and undergrowth, and extending from the 
'• river to a marsh, at the foot of the mountain."] On coming in 
view of the enemy, the Americans, who had previously marched 
in a single column, instantly displayed into a line of equal ex- 
tent, and attacked from right to left at the same time.t The 
right of the Americans was commanded by Colonel Zebulon 
Butler, opposed to Colonel John Butler commanding the ene- 
my's left. Colonel Dennison commanded the left of the Ameri- 
cans, and was opposed by Indians forming the enemy's right. § 
The battle commenced at about forty rods distance, without 
much execution at the onset, as the brush-wood interposed ob- 
stacles to the sight. The militia stood the fire well for a short 
time, and as they pressed forward, there was some giving way 
on the enemy's right. Unluckily, just at this moment the ap- 
palling war-whoop of the Indians rang in the rear of the Ame- 
rican left — the Indian leader having conducted a large party 
of his warriors through the marsh, and succeeded in turning 
Dennison's flank. A heavy and destructive fire was simulta- 
neously poured into the American ranks ; and amidst the con- 
fusion. Colonel Dennison directed his men to "/aZZ back,^' to 
avoid being surrounded, and to gain time to bring his men into 
order again. This direction was mistaken for an order to 
" retreat," whereupon the whole line broke, and every effort of 
their officers to restore order was unavailing. At this stage of 
the battle, and while thus engaged, the American officers mostly 
fell. The flight was general. The Indians, throwing away 
their rifles, rushed forward with their tomahawks, making 
dreadful havock — answering the cries for mercy with the hatchet 
— and adding to the universal consternation those terrific 
yells which invest savage warfare with tenfold horror. So 
alert was the foe in this bloody pursuit, that less than sixty of 

♦ Chapman. t Marshall. J Col. Z. Butler's letter. § Chapman. 



1778. 



BATTLE OF WYOMING. 335 



the Americans escaped either the rifle or the tomahawk. Of 
the militia officers, there fell one lieutenant-colonel, one major, 
and ten captains, six lieutenants, and two ensigns. Colonel 
Durkee,and Captains Hewett andRansom were hkewise killed. 
Some of the fugitives escaped by swimming the river, and 
others by flying to the mountains. As the news of the defeat 
spread down the valley, the greater part of the women and 
children, and those who had remained behind to protect them, 
likewise ran to the woods and the mountains ; while those who 
could not escape thus, sought refuge in Fort Wyoming. The 
Indians, apparently wearied with pursuit and slaughter, desisted, 
and betook themselves to secure the spoils of the vanquished. 

On the morning of the 4th, the day after the battle. Colonel 
John Butler, with the combined British and Indian forces, 
appeared before Fort Wyoming, and demanded its surrender. 
The inhabitants, both within and without the fort, did not, on 
that emergency, sustain a character for courage becoming men 
of spirit in adversity. They were so intimidated as to give up 
without fighting; great numbers ran off'; and those who re- 
mained, all but betrayed Colonel Zebulon Butler, their com- 
mander.* The British Colonel Butler sent several flags, requir- 
ing an unconditional surrender of his opposing namesake and 
the few Continental troops yet remaining, but offering to spare 
the inhabitants their property and effects. But with the Ame- 
rican Colonel the victor would not treat on any terms ; and 
the people thereupon compelled Colonel Dennison to comply 
with conditions which his commander had refused.! The 
consequence was, that Colonel Zebulon Butler contrived to 
escape from the fort with the remains of Captain Hewett's com- 
pany of regulars,t and Colonel Dennison entered into articles 
of capitulation. By these it was stipulated that the settlers 
should be disarmed and their garrison demolished ; that all the 
prisoners and public stores should be given up ; that the property 
of " the people called Tories " should be made good, and they 
be permitted to remain peaceably upon their farms. In behalf 
of the settlers it was stipulated that their lives and property 
should be preserved, and that they should be left in the unmo 
lested occupancy of their farms.§ 

* Colonel Z. Butler's letter. f Idem. | Idem. § Chapman's History. 

47 



336 LIFE OP BRANT. [1778. 

Unhappily, however, the British commander either could 
not or would not enforce the terms of the capitulation, which 
were to a great extent disregarded as well by the Tories as 
Indians, Instead of finding protection, the valley was again 
laid waste — the houses and improvements were destroyed by 
fire, and the country plundered. Families were broken up and 
dispersed, men and their wives separated, mothers torn from 
their children, and some of them carried into captivity, while 
far the greater number fled to the mountains, and wandered 
through the wilderness to the older settlements. Some died of 
their wounds, others from want and fatigue, while others still 
were lost in the wilderness, or were heard of no more. Several 
perished in a great swamp in the neighborhood, which from 
that circumstance acquired the name of " The Shades of 
Death^'' and retains it to this day.* 

These were painful scenes. But it does not appear that any 
thing like a massacre followed the capitulation.! Nor, in the 
events of the preceding day, is there good evidence of the per- 
petration of any specific acts of cruelty, other than such as are 
usual in the general rout of a battle-field — save only the un- 
exampled atrocities of the Tories, thirsting, probably, for revenge 
in regard to other questions than that of allegiance to the King.t 

There seems, from the first, to have been an uncommonly 
large proportion of loyalists in the Wyoming settlements, whose 
notions of legal restraint, from the previous collisions of the 
inhabitants, were of course latitudinarian ; nor were their ante- 
cedent asperities softened by the attempts of the Whigs to keep 
them within proper control, after hostilities had commenced. 
The greater number of these, as we have already seen, together 
with those who were arrested, had joined themselves to the 
enemy. But these were not all the defections. After the ar- 



* Chapman's History. 

f It will be seen, a few pages forward, by a letter from Walter Butler, writing on 
behalf of his father, Col. John Butler, that a solemn denial is made of any massacre 
whatever, save the killing of men in arms in the open field. This letter, in vindica- 
tion of the refugee Butlers, would have been introduced here, but for its connexion 
with the affair of Cherry Valley, 

\ Indeed, for cold-blooded cruelty, which may be called murder outright, there was 
nothing at Wyoming, with the single exception of the fratricide soon to be related, at 
all comparable to the massacre of the Mexicans at San Jacinto by the soi-d\sa.nt 
Texan heroes under Houston. 



1778.] BARBARITIES AT WYOMING. 337 

rival of the enemy upon the confines of the settlement, and be 
fore the battle, a considerable number of the inhabitants joined 
his ranks, and exhibited instances of the most savage barbarity 
against their former neighbors and friends.* Nor has it ever 
been denied, in regard to the battle of Wyoming, that none 
were more ferocious and cruel— more destitute of the unstrained 
quality of mercy, than those same loyalists or Tories. An ex- 
ample of the spirit by which they were actuated is found in 
the following occurrence, which, on account of its Cain-like 
barbarity, is worthy of repetition. Not far from the battle- 
ground was an island in the Susquehanna, called Monockonock, 

to which several of the fugitive militia-men fled for security 

throwing away their arms, and swimming the river. Here 
they concealed themselves as they could among the brush-wood. 
Their place of retreat being discovered, several Tories followed 
them ; and, though obliged to swim, yet so intent were they 
upon the work of death, that they succeeded in taking their 
guns with them. Arriving upon the island, they deliberately 
wiped their gun-locks, recharged their pieces, and commenced 
searching for the fugitives. Two of these were concealed in 
sight of each other, but one of them escaped. But it was never- 
theless his lot to behold a scene painful enough to make the 
most hardened offender weep, and " blush to own himself a 
man." One of the pursuers came upon his companion in par- 
tial concealment, who proved to be his own brother. His salu- 
tation was—" So, it is you, is it ?" The unarmed and defence- 
less man, thus observed, came forward, and fell upon his knees 
before his brother, begging for mercy — promising to live with 
him, and serve him for ever, if he- would but spare his life. 
" All this is mighty fine," replied the unrelenting traitor, " but 

you are a d d rebel !"— saying which, he deliberately 

levelled his rifle, and shot him dead upon the spot.f In a do- 
mestic war marked by such atrocity, even among those claim- 
ing to be civilized, it becomes us to pause before we brand the 
untutored savage, who fights acording to the usages of his own 
people, with all that is revolting and cruel. t 

* Chapman. 

f Chapman's Hist, of Wyoming. 

X Doctor Thatcher, in his Military Journal, records still greater barbarities ae 
having been perpetrated on this bloody occasion. He says — " One of the prisoners a 



338 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

There is still another important correction to be made, in 
reference to every written history of this battle extant, not even 
excepting the last revised edition of the Life of Washington by 
Chief Justice Marshall. This correction regards the name, 
and the just fame, of Joseph Brant, whose character has been 
blackened with all the infamy, both real and imaginary, con- 
nected with this bloody expedition. Whether Captain Brant 
was at any time in company with this expedition, is doubtful ; 
but it is certain, in the face of every historical authority, Bri- 
tish and American, that so far from being engaged in the bat- 
tle, he was many miles distant at the time of its occurrence. 
Such has been the uniform testimony of the British officers en- 
gaged in that expedition, and such was always the word of 
Thayendanegea himself It will, moreover, be seen, toward the 
close of the present work, that after the publication of Camp- 
bell's " Gertrude of Wyoming," in which poem the Mohawk 
chieftain was denounced as " the Monster Brant," his son re- 
paired to England, and in a correspondence with the poet, suc- 
cessfully vindicated his father's memory from the calumny.* 

"Captain Badlock, was committed to torture, by having his body stuck full of splin- 
"ters of pine knots, and a fire of dry wood made around him, when his two com- 
" panions. Captains Ransom and Durkee, where thrown into the same fire, and 
"held down with pitchforks till consumed. One Partial Terry, the son of a man 
"of respectable character, having joined the Indian party, several times sent his fa- 
"ther word thai lie hoped to loash his hands in his hearVs blood. The monster lolth 
" his 010 n hands murdered his father, mother, brothers, and sisters, stripped off their 
" scalps, and cut off his father's head !.' Thomas Terry icith his own hands butchered 
" his oion mother, his father-in-law, his sisters and their infant children, and extermi- 
" nated the whole family !! " Upon which the worthy Doctor remarks — " It is only in 
"the infernal regions that we can look for a parallel instance of unnatural wicked- 
ness." It is doubtful whether so great an atrocity was ever committed even there. Cer- 
tainly no sucli were perpetrated at Wyoming. Dr. Thatcher also states, that when 
Col. Z. Butler sent a flag to propose terms of capitulation, the reply of Col . John Butler 
was in two words — "The Hatchet.'" He also remarks, in regard to tiie moral and 
social condition of Wyoming, that but for tlie dissensions produced by the war of 
the Revolution, " the inhabitants of this secluded spot might have lived in the en- 
"joyment of all the happiness which results from harmony and the purest natural 
" affection." Witness the ten years of civil wars sketched in the preceding pages. 
It was also reported that a man named Thomas Hill with his own hands killed his 
own mother, his father-in-law, his sisters and their families ! And such is liistory ! 
These monstrous exaggerations were the reports of (he battle first published at 
Poughkeepsie on the 20th of .Tuly, as derived from the lips of the terrified fugitives 
who were wending their way back to Connecticut, 

* Since the present chapter was written, and while the work was under revision, 
the author has received a letter from Mr. Samuel C. Frey, of Upper Canada, a son 



1778.] CATHARINE MONTOUR. 339 

It is related in the unwritten history of this battle, that the 
celebrated Catharine Montour was present, with her two sons ; 
and that she ranged the field of blood like a chafed tigress, 
stimulating the warriors of her adopted race to the onslaught, 
even in the hottest of the fight. But from the antecedent cha- 
racter of that remarkable woman, the story can hardly be cre- 

of the late Philip R. Frey, Esq. a loyalist of Tryon County, who was an ensign in 
II. B. M's Eighth Regiment, and who, with his regiment, was engaged in the cam- 
paign and battle of Wyoming. Philip R. Frey, the ensign spoken of, died at Pala- 
tine, Montgomery (formerly Tryon) County, in 1S23. It was his uniform testimony 
that Brant was not at Wyoming. Mr. Frey writes to the author, that there were 
no chiefs of notoriety with the Indians on that expedition, and that the Indians them- 
selves were led from Detroit, by Captain Bird of the Eighth Regiment. Bird had 
been engaged in a love affair at Detroit, but, being very ugly, besides having a hare- 
lip, was unsuccessful. The affair getting wind, his fellow-officers made themselves 
merry at his expense, and in order to steep his griefs in forgetfulness, he obtained 
permission to lead an expedition somewhere against the American frontier. Join- 
ing the Indians placed under him, and a detachment of his regiment, to Butler's 
rangers, they concerted the descent upon Wyoming. Ensign Frey stated that he 
was ill-natured during the whole march, and acted with fool-hardiness at the battle. 
He farther stated, according to the letter of his son, that the American Colonel chal- 
lenged them to a fair field-fight, which challenge was accepted. " The next morn- 
" ing, at about 9 o'clock, the Americans poured out of the fort about three hundred and 
" forty in number — the Indians fell back over a hill — the troops on both sides drew up 
" in battle array and soon commenced ; after a few rounds fired, the American Colo- 
"nel ordered his drum-major to beat a charge, the drum-major mistook the order and 
" beat a retreat, the Americans became disordered immediately, and ran helter-skelter ; 
" the moment the Indians saw them running, they poured down upon them from their 
"hiding places, so that no more than about forty survived out of three hundred and 
" forty." Rarely, indeed, does it happen that history is more at fault in regard to facts 
than in the case of Wyoming. The remark may be applied to nearly every writer 
who has attempted to narrate the events connected with the invasion of Colonel 
John Butler. Ramsay, and Gordon, and INIarshall — nay, the British historians them- 
selves — have written gross exaggerations. Marshall, however, in his revised edition, 
has made corrections, and explained how and by whom he was led into error. My 
excellent friend, Charles Miner, Esq. long a resident of Wyoming, a gentleman of 
letters and great accuracy, furnislied the biographer of Washington with a true nar- 
rative of the transactions, which he made the basis of the summary account con- 
tained in his revised edition. Other writers, of greater or less note, have gravely re- 
corded the same fictions, adding, it is to be feared, enormities not even conveyed to 
them by tradition. The grossest of these exaggerations are contamed in Thatcher's 
Military Journal and Drake's Book of the Indians. The account of the marching 
out of a large body of Americans from one of the forts, to hold a parley, by agree- 
ment, and then being drawn into an ambuscade and all put 1o death, is false ; the 
account of seventy Continental soldiers being butchered, after having surrendered, 
is also totally untrue. No regular troops surrendered, and all escaped who survived 
the battle of the 3 i Equally untrue was the story of the burning of houses, bar- 
racks, and forts, filled with women and children. 



340 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

dited. She was a native of Canada, a half-breed, her father 
havin<r been one of the early French governors — probably 
Count Frontenac, as he must have been in the government of 
that country at about the time of her birth. During the wars 
between the Six Nations and the French and Hurons, Catha- 
rine, when about ten years of age, was made a captive, taken 
into the Seneca country, adopted and reared as one of their 
own children. When arrived at a suitable age, she was mar- 
ried to one of the distinguished chiefs of her tribe, who signal- 
ized himself in the wars of the Six Nations against the Cataw- 
bas, then a great nation living south-westward of Virginia. 
She had several children by this chieftain, who fell in battle 
about the year 1730, after which she did not again marry. 
She is said to have been a handsome woman when young, 
genteel, and of polite address, notwithstanding her Indian as- 
sociations. It was frequently her lot to accompany the chiefs 
of the Six Nations to Philadelphia, and other places in Penn- 
sylvania, where treaties were holden ; and from her character 
and manners she was greatly caressed by the American ladies — 
particularly in Philadelphia, where she was invited by the la- 
dies of the best circles, and entertained at their houses. Her 
residence was at the head of the Seneca Lake.* 

Some of the flying fugitives from Wyoming had not pro- 
ceeded many miles from their desolate homes, before they met 
a detachment of Continental troops on their way to assist the 
Colony. It was now too late. But the detachment, neverthe- 
less, remained at Stroudsburg three or four weeks, by which 
time Colonel Zebulon Butler had collected a force consisting 
of straggling settlers and others, with whom, and the regular 
troops just mentioned, he returned, and repossessed himself of 
Wyoming — the enemy having retired shortly after the battle — 
Colonel John Butler to Niagara, and the Indians to their 
homes ; while Thayendanegea moved as he had occasion, from 



* Catharinestown — so named from her. This account of Catharine Montour is 
chiefly drawn from Witham Marshe's Journal of a treaty with tlie Six Nations, held 
at Lancaster in 1744 — Vide Mass. Hist. Coll. In 1758 Sir William Johnson had 
an Indian interpreter in his service, known as " Captain Montour." One of Catha- 
rine's sons was called "Captain," and was probably the same. Tradition, at 
Seneca Lake, holds that Catharine Montour was killed by Sullivan's men in 1779. 
But it will hereafter be seen that such was not the fact. 



177S.] HISTORY OF WYOMING. 341 

his old haunts higher up the Susquehanna, at Oghkwaga and 
Unadilla. 

Immediately on the reception of the disastrous tidings from 
Wyoming at the Continental head-quarters, Colonel Hartley's 
regiment was ordered thither, with instructions from Congress 
to remain on that frontier until the crops were secured and the 
enemy should have retreated. He was joined by several mili- 
tia companies, and, among other officers, by Colonel Dennison, 
who, in the capitulation of Wyoming, had stipulated not again 
to serve against the King's troops. He accompanied Colonel 
Hartley in an expedition against some of the Indian towns up the 
Susquehanna, in the direction of Oghkwaga, several of which 
were destroyed. A few prisoners were also taken. It appearing, 
however, that the enemy were gathering in too much force for 
him to remain long within their territory, Colonel Hartley 
was constrained to retreat. An attack was made upon his 
rear, but the assailants were repulsed. Colonel Dennison 
doubtless felt himself warranted in breaking the stipulations of 
Fort Wyoming, by the fact that those stipulations were not 
strictly observed by the Tories and Indians. But the enemy 
made no such allowance ; and this expedition, or rather the 
conduct of Colonel Dennison, was subsequently used as a pre- 
text for some of the incidents connected with the attack upon 
Cherry Valley. 

Colonel Zebulon Butler built another fort at Wyoming, 
which he continued to occupy until the next year, when the 
command of that region devolved upon General Sullivan. In 
the mean time the outskirts of the settlements were frequently 
harassed by straggling parties of Tories and Indians, who occa- 
sionally committed an assassination or carried off a few prison- 
ers. The Americans, in turn, despatched every Indian who fell 
in their way. In March following, the fort was surrounded by 
a force of two hundred and fifty Indians, and Tories disguised 
as such. They attacked the fortress, but fled on the discharge 
of a single piece of artillery — burning whatever buildings had 
either been re-erected or left standing at the former invasion. 
The garrison was too weak to allow of a pursuit. A few weeks 
afterward, as a company of Continental troops were approach- 
ing the fort, under the command of Major Powell, they were 
fired upon by a party of Indians in ambush, while passing 



342 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

along a single track through a difficult swamp. In this attack, 
Captaui Davis, Lieutenant Jones, and four privates, were killed. 
The detachment formed for action with all possible despatch ; 
but the Indians fled after two or three discharges. Nor did 
they re-appear afterward, in that immediate neighborhood, in 
any subsequent stage of the revolutionary contest, although 
other sections of the Pennsylvania frontier, farther south and 
west, suffered occasionally from their depredations, particularly 
in the following year, while Sullivan was preparing to advance 
into the Seneca country.* 

* Thus ends the revolutionary history of "Wyoming. But from what has been 
given in the preceding pages, touching the history of this valley and its feuds before 
the Revolution, the reader may possibly feel some desire to learn the subsequent 
progress of the long-pending land quarrel. After the Indians had been chastised, 
the settlers returned, and the valley and its precincts once more began to flourish. 
Pennsylvania again interposed her claims ; and a Commission was appointed by 
Congress, which met in New Jersey, to hear the case and decide the question. It 
was unanimously decided in favor of Pennsylvania. The people held that this de- 
cision was one of jurisdiction merely, and with this understanding cheerfully ac- 
quiesced in it. But fresh troubles arose. A company of Continental troops was 
stationed there in 1783, to keep the peace, and this only made matters worse — the 
soldiers became licentious and overbearing, and the people were exceedingly annoy- 
ed thereat. In the Spring of 1784, by a succession of ice-dams which accumulated in 
the river, the valley was overflowed, and the inhabitants were compelled to fly to the 
mountains for safety. When the ice gave way, the floods swept off" every thing — 
leaving the whole valley a scene of greater desolation than ever. Presently after- 
ward the old troubles broke out afresh. The inhabitants refused to obey their new 
masters. The Connecticut settlers flew to arms— the Pennsylvanians sent troops 
thither— the Connecticut settlers laid siege to the fort — there were riots and skir- 
mishings, and some killed and wounded. The Connecticut people were taken pri- 
soners by treachery, and sent off to prison. They escaped. Reinforcements of 
troops were sent by Pennsylvania — there was more blood shed. Various attempts 
were made to settle the difficulties. Commissioners were appointed upon the sub- 
ject, one of whom was Timothy Pickering. He was forcibly seized, and carried 
into captivity. His story has been written by himself, and is full of interest. These 
difliiculties continued, with feelings of the bitterest contention, ten years, before 
matters were compromised between the parties, so that they settled down in peace. 
It is now a rich and flourishing cqunty, and may be called the Paradise of Penn- 
sylvania. 



i 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Evacuation of Philadelphia by Sir Henry Clinton — Followed through New Jersey 
by Washington — Battle of Monmouth — Conduct and arrest of General Lee — 
Retreat of the enemy — Arrival of the French fleet — Combined attack of the Ame- 
ricans and French upon the British army of Rhode Island — British fleet escapes 
from Count D'Estaing — Battle of Rhode Island — Failure of the expedition — 
Projected campaigns against the Indians — Captains Pipe and White-Eyes — 
M'Kee and Girty — General M'Intosh ordered against the Sandusky towns — 
Irruption of Brant into Cobleskill— Of M'Donald into the Schoharie settlements 
— Pusillanimity of Colonel Vrooman — Bravery of Colonel Harper — His expedi- 
tion to Albany — Captivity of Mr. Sawyer — Slays six Indians and escapes — Colo- 
nel William Butler sent to Schoharie — Morgan's rifle corps — Daring adventures 
of Murphy and Elerson— Death of Service, a noted Tory— Murphy's" subsequent 
adventures — Aflairs at Fort Schuyler — Alarming number of desertions — Destruc- 
tion of Andros-town by the Indians — Conflagration of the German Flatts — Ex- 
pedition of Colonel William Butler from Schoharie to Unadilla and Oghkwaga. 

No sooner had Great Britain been apprized of the alhance 
between France and her revolted Colonies, than it was deter- 
mined to evacuate Philadelphia, and concentrate the Royal 
army at New-York. Accordinj^ly, on the ISth of June the 
British troops crossed the Delaware into New Jersey, and 
commenced their march for New- York, ascending the east bank 
of the river to Allentown, and thence taking the lower road 
leading through Monmouth to Sandy Hook, General Wash- 
ington, anticipating this movement, had previously detached a 
division of the army under General Maxwell, to impede the 
enemy's march. It was known that General Gates was ap- 
proaching with the army from the North, and the enemy's 
motions were no sooner ascertained, than General Wayne was 
despatched, with one thousand chosen men, to strengthen the 
lines. The Marquis de Lafayette was directed to take com- 
mand of the whole force thus sent in advance, while Wash- 
ington himself moved rapidly forward with the main army. 
It was his design to bring on a general, and, if possible, a de- 
cisive engagement. The result of his movements for that 
object was the battle of Monmouth, fought on the 28th of June. 
The dispositions for this engagement were admirably arranged 
on the night of the 27thj the position of the enemy being such 
as to afford the best advantages for an attack upon his rear the 
moment he should get in motion. Such being the intentions of 
the Commander-in-chief, they were communicated to General 
48 



344 LIFE OP BRANT. [1778 

Lee, who was ordered to make his dispositions accordingly, 
and to keep his troops lying upon their arms to be in readiness 
; at the shortest notice. At live in the morning of the 28th, the 
front of the enemy was observed to be in motion, and orders 
were instantly despatched to General Lee to move on and 
attack, "unless there should be very powerful reasons to the 
contrary." Lee was also advised that Washington was himself 
advancing to support him. After marching about five miles, 
" to the great surprise and mortification " of the Commander- 
in-chief, he met the whole advanced corps retreating, by the 
orders of Lee, " without having made any opposition, except 
" one fire given by a party luider Colonel Butler, on their being 
" charged by the enemy's cavalry, who were repulsed."* Lee 
was sharply rebuked, and placed in arrest. Hurrying to the 
rear of the retreating corps, which the Commander-in-chief 
found closely pressed by the enemy, he arrested their flight, 
re-formed them, and with the aid of some well-served pieces of 
artillery, at once checked the enemy's advance, and gained 
time for making such dispositions as the unexpected emergency 
required. The battle soon became general, and was obstinately 
contested at various points through the whole day, until dark ; 
Sir Henry Clinton and General Washington heading their 
respective armies in person. By the misconduct of Lee, how- 
ever, and an error of General Scott in the morning, advantages 
had been lost which entirely disconcerted the views of the 
Commander-in-chief, and deprived the American arms of a victory 
which was all but certain. Still, the fortunes of the day were 
so far recovered, that, from being the pursued, " the Americans 
" drove the enemy back over the ground they had followed, 
" and recovered the field of battle, and possessed themselves of 
" their dead. But as they retreated behind a morass very difii- 
" cult to pass, and had both flanks secured with thick woods, 
" it was found impracticable for the Americans, fainting with 
" fatigue, heat, and want of water, to do any thing more that 
" night." t 

Both armies encamped in the field, and lay upon their arms ; 
Washington himself sleeping in his cloak under a tree in the 

* Letter of Washington to the President of Congress, July 1, I77S. 

\ Letter of Washington to his brother, John Augustine Washington, July 4, 1778. 



1778.J BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 345 

midst of his soldiers. His intention was to renew and end the 
battle on the following morning, not doubting as to the issue. 
Indeed, the result of that day's fight was justly considered a 
victory by the American officers, and but ifor the conduct of 
Lee in the morning, it would almost beyond question have been 
decisive.* But the purpose of the Commander-in-chief to renew 
the engagement was frustrated by a silent midnight retreat of 
the enemy — so silent, indeed, that his departure was not known 
until the morning.t A variety of circumstances concurred to 
render a pursuit by the Americans unadvisable ; among the 
principal of which were, the extreme heat of the weather, the 
fatigue of the army from its march through a deep sandy 
country, ahiiost entirely destitute of water, and the distance the 
enemy had gained by his midnight march. A pursuit, it was 
believed, would answer no valuable purpose, and would certain- 
ly be fatal to numbers of the men, several of whom had 
perished of heat on the preceding day.j The American com- 
mander thereupon drew off his army to the Hudson, crossed 
over, and once more established his head-quarters at White 
Plains. Meantime Sir Henry Clinton proceeded to Sandy 
Hook, and thence passed his troops over to New- York. The 
loss of the Americans in this battle was eight officers and sixty- 
one privates killed, and one hundred and sixty wounded. That 

* In a letter to General Gansevoort from Colonel Willett, who was on a visit to 
head-quarters at the time of the battle of Monmouth, the Colonel says : — " 1 have 
had the pleasure of seeing the American army, under the great General Washington, 
triumph over the haughty British in the battle of Monmouth. The action was 
grand, and ended gloriously." — J\IS. letter of Col. Willett. 

t In his despatches to his government, Sir Henry Clinton stated that he took the 
advantage of the moonlight in his retreat ; when, in reality, he did not begin the re- 
treat until some hours after the moon had set. In the course of a correspondence in 
the following Spring, between Governor William Livingston and Sir Henry, the 
Governor taunted him upon this subject of his moonlight retreat. That correspond- 
ence was sharp upon both sides. Governor Livingston wrote to Sir Henry that he 
had received indisputable evidence, that a British General had offered a large sum of 
money to an inhabitant of New Jersey to assassinate him, (Governor L.) Sir 
Henry repelled the imputation in strong terms— declaring that were he "capable of 
harboring such an infamous idea as that of assassination, he would not blacken 
himself with so foul a crime to obtain so trifling an end." Clinton was evidently 
irritated, and from the coarseness of his language, gave Governor Livingston the de- 
cided advantage in his rejoinder, which was equally dignified and severe. — Vide 
Jllmoii's Remembranctr, vol. vi. pp. 279, 281. 

I Letter of Washington to the President of Congress. 



■0 



346 LIFE OF BRANT. 1778. 

of the enemy was three hundred and sixty-eight in killed, 
wounded, and missing, and about one hundred taken prisoners. 
One thousand of their men deserted on their march. Both 
parties claimed the victory, which was in fact won by neither. 
The advantages, in the earlier part of the day, were in favor of 
the British ; in the after-part, of the Americans, The stealthy 
retreat of the former, moreover, covered by the darkness, left no 
doubt as to which army was best prepared to renew the conflict 
with the return of daylight. 

The French fleet, under the Count D'Estaing, consisting 
of twelve ships of the line and six frigates, having on board 
four thousand troops, arrived on the coast of Virginia about 
the 1st of July. The design of the French commander was 
to engage the British squadron in the Chesapeake, But un- 
fortunately, the latter had sailed for New- York a few days be- 
fore. Thither the Count followed the British admiral, but the 
bar of the New- York harbor would not allow the entrance 
of his heavy ships. An attack upon New- York thus proving 
to be impracticable, by the advice of General Washington it 
was determined to make an attempt upon Rhode Island, then 
occupied by six thousand Britisli troops commanded by Major 
General Sir Robert Pigott. General Sullivan, with an army 
often thousand men, was lying in the neighborhood of Provi- 
dence, Count D'Estaing arrived off Newport on the 25th of 
July, and arrangements were soon adjusted between General 
Sullivan and himself for a combined attack upon the town of 
Newport by land and sea. The assault was to be made on 
the 9th of August, for which purpose Sullivan moved down 
to Tiverton, where he was joined by General Greene, and the 
ships of war entered the channel. But the militia not having 
joined the regular troops so promptly as was expected, General 
Sullivan judged it necessary to postpone the attack for a day or 
two. Meantime Liord Howe appeared ofl" the harbor with the 
British fleet, and the Count D'Estaing immediately put to sea 
to engage him. The French fleet having the weather gage, 
the British admiral weighed anchor and put to sea, followed by 
the Count. A storm separated the fleets, so that no engage- 
ment took place ; and on his return to port on the 19th, Count 
D'Estaing found it necessary to repair to Boston to refit. Du- 
ring the absence of the Count, however, while in chase of Lord 



1778.] BATTLE OF RHODE ISLAND, 347 

Howe, General Sullivan had crossed over to the island, and on 
the 15th laid siege to the town of Newport. But when the 
French admiral departed for Boston, the militia, disappointed 
and disheartened at being thus abandoned by their allies, left 
the service in such numbers, that Sullivan was compelled to 
raise the siege and retire. He was pursued to the distance of 
a mile north of Quaker Hill, where, on the 29th of August, was 
fought the battle of Rhode Island. It was a sharp and obstinate 
engagement of half an hour, at the end of which the enemy- 
gave way and retreated. The loss of the Americans was two 
hundred and eleven. That of the enemy two hundred and 
sixty.* Ascertaining, soon afterward, that strong reinforcements 
were coming from New- York to the aid of General Pigott, a 
resolution was immediately adopted by Sullivan to evacuate 
the island. This determination was executed on the night of 
the 30th — most luckily, as the event proved ; for on the very 
next day Sir Henry Clinton arrived at Newport with four 
thousand troops, which reinforcement would doubtless have 
enabled the enemy to cut off the retreat of the Americans. 

In September, after the return of the British troops to New- 
York, strong divisions moved northward on each side of the 
Hudson river. By a detachment of one of these, under Gene- 
ral Gray, a regiment of American cavalry, commanded by Co- 
lonel Baylor, was surprised while asleep at Tappan, and almost 
entirely cut off. The enemy rushed upon the sleeping troopers, 
numbering one hundred and four privates with their bayonets. 
The loss, killed, wounded, and taken, was sixty-four. This 
exploit was very similar to that of the Paoli, under the same 
General, the preceding year. 

In consequence of the hostile spirit very generally and ex- 
tensively manifested by the Indians — the great western tribes 
becoming more and more restif— early in June, immediately 
preceding the affair of Wyoming, Congress had determined 
upon a more enlarged and decisive campaign against them. 
This had, indeed, become the more necessary from the bellige- 
rent indications among the Delawares and Shawanese, inha- 
biting the territory now forming the State of Ohio. At the 

* One of the most brilliant affdirs during this expedition was performed by Colo- 
nel John Trumbull, who was acting as a volunteer under Sullivan at the time — as 
will be seen by the Colonel'a memoirs when published. 



348 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

commencement of the war Koquethagaeehlon, the Delaware 
chief usually known as Captain White-Eyes, a firm friend of 
the Colonies, had succeeded in preventing his people from taking 
up the hatchet against them, in opposition to the views of his 
rival chief. Captain Pipe. But in the Spring of the present 
year, the policy of the latter had well nigh prevailed, through 
the revengeful machinations of three celebrated loyalists, named 
M'Kee, Elliot, and Simon Girty, who had been confined at 
Pittsburgh as Tories ; but who, effecting their escape, traversed 
the Indian country to Detroit, proclaiming, as they went, that 
the Americans had resolved upon their destruction, and that 
their only chance of safety was to espouse the cause of the 
Crown, and fight. Availing himself of the excitement created 
by those fugitives,* Captain Pipe assembled a large number of 
his warriors, and proclaimed " every one an enemy to his 
" country who should endeavor to persuade them against fight- 
" ing the Americans, and declared that ail such ought surely 
" to be put to death." But W!iite-Eyes was by no means in- 
active in his efforts to preserve peace. Collecting the people 
of his tribe, he addressed them with great earnestness anc 
pathos. Observing that some of his warriors were preparing 
to take up the hatchet, he admonished them strongly against 
such a course, which, in the end, could only bring upon them 
sure destruction. Still, if they believed he was wrong — if they 
were disposed to place more confidence in the tales of those 
whom he knew to be fugitives, than to himself, they should not 
go out without him. " But he would not go out with them 
" like the bear-hunter, who sets the dogs on the animal to be 
" beaten about with his paws while he keeps at a safe distance. 
" No ! He would lead them on, place himself in their front, 
" and be the first who should fall. They only had to deter- 
'' mine what they meant to do. As for his own mind, it was 
'• fully made up not to survive his nation. And he would not 
" spend the remainder of a miserable life, in bewailing the total 
" destruction of a brave people who deserved a better fate." t 

The counsel of White-Eyes, supported by a conciliatory mes- 
sage, which was received just in good time, from the Americans, 

* The names of these men will be of frequent recurrence in the subsequent volume 
of this work, in connexion with the Indian wars of 1789 — 1794. 
t Drake's Book of the Indians. 



1778.] DELAVVARES AND SHAWANESE. 349 

prevailed for the moment, and the Delawares came to the unani- 
mous determination to follow his advice, and his alone. Avail- 
ing himself of the hour of success, White-Eyes forthwith des- 
patched the following energetic letter to the Shawanese of the 
Scioto, who had also been visited by M'Kee, Elliot, and Girty. 

"Grand-children, ye Shawanese: Some days ago a 
flock of birds, that had come on from the East, lit at Goscho- 
chking, imposing a song of theirs upon us, which song had nigh 
proved our ruin. Should these birds, which, on leaving us, 
took their flight toward Scioto, endeavor to impose a song on 
you likewise, do not listen to them, for they lie." 

But the hostile action of these people was only suspended for 
a short time, and it became necessary for more extended and 
efficient operations against nearly the whole race.* In the pro- 
ject of Congress already adverted to, it was intended that one 
exjiedition should move upon Detroit, while General Gates was 

* Indeed, the Shawanese had not been remarkably quiet antecedent to the visita- 
tion of M'Kee, EUiot, and Girty, since they had for several years been engaged in a 
system of predatory warfare against the celebrated Colonel Daniel Boon and his ad- 
venturous companions, almost from the day they made their appearance upon the 
banks of the Ohio, with their families, in 1773, when the settlement of the present 
Slate of Kentucky was commenced. Boon had been engaged with Lord Dunmore 
in his war against the Shawanese in 1774. In the following year he was attacked 
in Boonsborough, his principal settlement ; and through the entire years of 1776 and 
1777, hostilities were actively prosecuted by the savages against the advancing Co- 
lonists. In one of the earlier battles Boon had lost a son. A second son fell after- 
ward, and his daughter was taken a captive, but bravely rescued by the chivalrous 
father. In April, 1777, the Indians so divided their forces as to fall upon all the in- 
fant settlements at once, and their little forts only saved the people from destruction. 
On the 15th of April, Boonsborough was attacked by one hundred Indians, at which 
time the inhabitants suffered severely. On the 19th, Colonel Logan's fort was at- 
tacked by a force of two hundred Indians, but they were repulsed by the garrison, 
consisting of only thirteen men — two of whom were killed. Reinforcements arriv- 
ing from Virginia, the skirmishes became almost daily. In February of the present 
year, (1778) Boonsborough was again attacked, and the gallant Colonel himself 
taken prisoner. He was taken first to Chilicothe, and thence to Detroit, where he 
was treated with humanity by Colonel Hamilton, the Governor, who offered the In- 
dians £100 if they would surrender him into his hands, that he might liberate him 
on his parole. But having imbibed a strong affection for their most subtle and suc- 
cessful enemy, the Indians declined the offer. Taking him back to Chilicothe, the 
Colonel was duly adopted into one of the Shawanese families as a son, to whom his 
new parents became strongly attached. He soon acquired their confidence to such 
an extent, that they allowed him to wander off, and hunt by himself. Ascertaining, 
hiwever, that they were meditating another descent upon Boonsborough, he ab- 
sconded, and, eluding pursuit, reached his home on the 20th of June. 



350 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

instructed by resolution to co-operate with that expedition by 
carrying the war into the Seneca country, and also to dispos- 
sess the enemy of Oswego, should he be found in the occu- 
pancy of that post. It appears, that at the very moment of the 
invasion of Wyoming, there was a delegation of Seneca chiefs 
at Philadelphia ; but having taken their departure without com- 
municating with the government, a resolution was passed by 
Congress, immediately upon the receipt of Colonel Z. Butler's 
despatches, instructing the Board of War to send after the chiefs, 
and ascertain from them in what character, and for what pur- 
poses, they had made the said visit ; and also to inquire whether 
the Seneca warriors had not been engaged in hostilities against 
the United States. On the 16th of July information was re- 
ceived that the chiefs refused to return, and instructions to 
General Schuyler were proposed, directing him to intercept and 
detain them at Albany. The motion was negatived ; but on 
the 25th of July, Congress having ascertained that the Senecas 
were actually engaged in the invasion of Wyoming, " aided by 
'' Tories and other banditti from the frontiers of New- York, 
" New Jersey, and Pennsylvania," it was resolved that the 
expedition against the hostiles of the Six Nations should be 
forwarded with all possible despatch. In the mean time, how- 
ever, from the expensiveness of the undertaking, the expedition 
against Detroit was reluctantly abandoned ; but in lieu there- 
of, General M'Intosh, commanding the Western department, 
was ordered to proceed from Pittsburgh against those of the 
Indian towns the destruction of which, in his opinion, would 
tend most effectually to intimidate and chastise them.* M'In- 
tosh had been stationed at Pittsburgh early in tlie Spring, and 
with a small party of regulars and militia, had descended the 
Ohio about thirty miles, and erected a fort, which was called by 
his own name, at Beavertown. It was a small work, built of 
strong stockades, and furnished with bastions mounting one 
six pounder each. The situation was well chosen, as a point 
affording the best facilities for intercepting the war parties of 
the western Indians, in their frequent hostile incursions the 
present year. 

This expedition was doubtless judged the more important 
from the increasing audacity of the Indians on the Ohio border 

* Journals of Congress, vol. iv. pages, 343, 398, 415, 427. 



1778.] COLONEL DANIEL BOON. 351 

r " Virginia, now forming the State of Kentucky. In August, 
Colonel Boon had led a small band of nineteen men against 
one of the Indian towns on the Scioto, before reachmg which 
he fell in with and dispersed a party of forty Indians then on 
their way to Boonsborougli. The Colonel found the town at 
Point Creek deserted ; and learned that their whole force had 
gone against his own settlement, to the defence of which he 
was consequently compelled to hasten back. Fortunately he 
anticipated their arrival by a few hours, and was enabled to 
prepare his little garrison for defence. On the 8th of August 
the Indians, to the number of about four hundred and tifty, ar- 
rived before the fort, led, in addition to their own chiefs, by 
Captain Duquesne, and eleven other Canadian Frenchmen, 
The garrison was formally summoned to surrender, which sum- 
mons was peremptorily refused. A treaty was then proposed 
by the besiegers, and acceded to ; the Indians requiring that 
nine men should be sent out to them as negotiators. But this 
movement proved to be an artifice, by means of which they 
hoped to gain access to the fort. An attempt to grapple with 
and carry off the nine negotiators, though happily unsuccess- 
ful, disclosed their treacherous design. The besiegers then at- 
tempted a regular approach from the river's brink by mining ; 
but finding that the garrison had discovered their purpose, and 
were engaged in countermining them, the siege was abandoned 
on the 20th of August. Tlie loss of the enemy was thirty-seven 
killed and a much larger number wounded. The loss of the 
garrison was only two men killed and four wounded. 

But, as we have seen, the expedition of General M'Intosh, as 
authorized by the vote of Congress recently cited, was specially 
destined against the Sandusky towns. It was commanded by the 
General himself, and consisted of one thousand men ; but such 
were the delays in getting it on foot, thcit the officers, on arriving 
at Tuscarawa, judged it imprudent to proceed farther at such 
an advanced season of the year. They therefore halted at that 
place, and built Fort Laurens, in which M'Intosh left a gar- 
rison of one hundred and fifty men under the command of Co- 
lonel John Gibson, and returned himself to Fort Pitt for the 
winter.* 

Connected with these distant Indian operations, of the Sum- 

* Doddridsfe's Indian Wars. 

49 



352 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778 

mer of 1778, was one equally distinguished by the boldness of 
its conception and the brilliancy of its execution. The increas- 
ing hostility of the remote tribes upon the waters of the Missis- 
sippi and its tributaries, had induced a belief that a powerful 
influence must have been exerted upon their minds by the set- 
tlements planted long before at Kaskaskias, and in the country 
of the upper Mississippi, by the French, in connexion with 
Canada. For the purpose of striking at once at the root of the 
evil, an expedition was organized early in the season, the object 
of which was to invade and take possession of those settlements. 
The command was entrusted to Colonel George Rogers Clarke, 
of Virginia, a bold and experienced border ofiicer, and his 
whole force, destined to penetrate twelve hundred miles through 
a wilderness, which was in fact the enemy's country, did not 
exceed two hundred men. The rendezvous of this little army 
was at the great Kanhawa, where they were attacked by a 
superior Indian force before their embarkation. But finding 
they were not able to make any impression upon the fort, the 
assailants drew off, having killed but one man and wounded 
one or two more. Descending to the falls of the Ohio, a small 
fort was erected at that place, in which a garrison was left of 
ten or twelve families. Arriving within about sixty miles of 
the mouth of the Ohio, the troops were landed, and, with only 
four days' provisions, marched for the Illinois. They reached 
the precincts of Kaskaskias at midniglit on the sixth day, 
having marched two days without food, and determined forth- 
with, and unanimously, to take the town or die in the attempt. 
The town was strongly fortified, and contained about two hun- 
dred and fifty well-built houses ; but the approach of the invaders 
was unknown ; the people and the garrison were alike slum- 
bering in security ; and both town and fort were taken — the 
latter being carried by surprise, although the defences were suf- 
ciently strong to resist a thousand men. The commanding 
officer, Philip Rocheblave, was made prisoner ; and among his 
papers, falling into the hands of Colonel Clarke, were the instruc- 
tions which he had from time to time received from the British 
Governors of Quebec, Detroit, and Michilimackinack, urging 
him to stimulate the Indians to war by the proffer of large 
bounties for scalps. Rocheblave was sent a prisoner to Wil- 



1778.] COLONEL Clarke's expedition. 353 

liamsbiirgh in Virginia, and with him were sent the papers 
taken from his portfoho. 

On the day after the fall of Kaskaskias, Captain Joseph 
Bowman, at the head of tliirty mounted men, was sent to attack 
three other towns upon the Mississippi, the first of which, 
called Parraderuski, distant fifteen miles from Kaskaskias, was 
surprised, and taken without opposition — the inhabitants at 
once assenting to the terms of the conqueror. The next town 
was St. Philips, distant nine miles farther up. The force of 
Captain Bowman was so small, that he wisely determined to 
make a descent upon St. Philips in the night, that his strength, 
or rather his weakness, might be concealed. The precaution 
ensured success ; and the inhabitants, with whom the whole 
negotiation was conducted in the night, acceded to the terms 
prescribed. From St. Philips, Captain Bowman directed his 
course upon the yet more considerable town of Cauhow, distant 
between forty and fifty miles. This town contained about one 
hundred families, and was also approached secretly, and entered 
in the night. Captain Bowman, with his troop, rode directly 
to the quarters of the commander, and demanded the surrender 
of himself and the whole town, which was immediately com- 
plied with. Taking possession of a large stone house, well 
fortfied, the " bold dragoon " immediately established his quar- 
ters therein, and awaited the morning's dawn, which would 
disclose to the people the diminutive force to which they had 
surrendered. Enraged at the discovery, one of the enemy 
threatened to bring a body of one hundred and fifty Indians 
against the little American squadron, and cut them off. But he 
was secured, and in the course of ten days upward of three 
hundred of the inhabitants became so reconciled to their 
change of masters, as to take the oath of allegiance to the 
United States, Leaving a small guard at Cauhow, Captain 
Bowman returned to Kaskaskias.* 

But the enemy on the New- York frontiers were by no means 
inactive. In addition to the severe affair in the Cobleskill set- 
tlement, in which Captain Christian Brown was the leader of 

* The facts connected with this expedition of Colonel Clarke, are drawn from a 
letter of Captain Bowman to Colonel John Hite of Virginia. . See Almon's Ameri- 
can Remembrancer, vol. vi. pp. 82, 83. The settlements thus taken were imme- 
diately erected by Virginia into a county, called Illinois. 



354 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

the American militia and a small band of regulars, as noted 
in the last preceding chapter but one, a large band of Indians 
and Tories, under the conduct of Brant and Barent Frey. broke 
into the same district at the close of May, and inflicted no 
small degree of damage by the destruction of both life and 
property. They were met by Captain Patrick, belonging to 
Colonel Alden's regiment, and a handful of troops, who were 
entirely cut to pieces. Captain Patrick fell early in the engage- 
ment. His lieutenant, a corporal, and nineteen men, were also 
killed. The command then devolved upon a sergeant, who 
fought bravely, as all had done. But they were surrounded 
by a force greatly superior in numbers, and but four men, ex- 
clusive of the sergeant, escaped — all wounded. The bodies of 
Patrick and his lieutenant were shockingly mutilated. A por- 
tion of the settlement was burnt, and the settlement of Turlock, 
in the same vicinity, was also ravaged.* 

Nor was this all. In the course of the Summer, and proba- 
bly at about the time of Colonel Hartley's expedition into the 
country above Wyoming, one of the M'Donalds, who had fled 
from Johnstown, a loyalist officer, distinguished for his activity, 
made a sudden irruption into the Schoharie settlements, at the 
head of about three hundred Tories and Indians, burning 
houses, and killing and making prisoners such of the inhabi- 
tants as came in his way, and were not able to make their 
escape. The little fortress of Schoharie was occupied by a 
small garrison, commanded by Colonel Vrooman — one of that 
class of men who, though officers, are certain never to be called 
soldiers. They saw the ravages of the enemy — the conflao-ra- 
tions by night rendering visible the acts of outrage committed 
by day — but from their own weakness dared not to venture 
forth, or make a show of opposition. The brave Colonel 
Harper was in the fort with Vrooman, and was little satisfied 
with the course of that officer. Leaving the fort, therefore, 

* The only account of tliis affair wliicli the author has discovered, was found ac- 
cidentally among the papers of General Gansevoort, after the fourteenth chapter had 
been printed. It is contained in a letter from C >lonel Richard Varick to Colonel 
Gansevoort, dated Schenectady, June 3, 1778, which states that the invasion took 
place on the preceding Saturday. Had this letter been sooner discovered, the inci- 
■dent would have been inserted in more exact chronological order — since the affair 
in which Captain Brown was the American commander, occurred, as related in the 
fourteenth chapter, from Brown's narrative, more than a month afterward. 



1778.] IRRUPTIONS INTO SCHOHARIE. 355 

liimself, he succeeded in making his way through the enemy, 
mounted his horse, and started express for Albany. His move- 
ment was discovered, and several Tories and Indians were 
despatched in pursuit. They overtook him in the night at an 
inn at Fox's Creek, after he had retired to bed. Hearing the 
noise below, the Colonel sprang np in full panoply, and as 
they broke open the door which he had locked, he presented 
his arms with such earnestness, that they recoiled. Standing 
upon the watch until the dawn of morning, he again succeeded 
in getting to horse, and rode off. One of the Indians followed 
him almost to Albany— the Colonel being obliged frequently to 
turn upon his dusky pursuer, who as often took to his heels as 
his pursuit was discovered. Having communicated the situa- 
tion of affairs in the Schoharie valley to Colonel Gansevoort, 
a squadron of cavalry was forthwith detached to their assist- 
ance. The detachment rode all night, and early on the fol- 
lowing morning, to the great joy of the terrified inhabitants 
who remained, the tramp of hoofs announced the approach of 
succors. The spirited light-horse-men had no sooner sounded 
a charge and made a dash upon the besiegers, led on by Har- 
per, than the troops sallied out from the fort, and a precipitate 
retreat of the enemy was the consequence.* 

The people of Schoharie had suffered severely from the 
scouts and scalping parties of the enemy during the Summer ; 
but their bravery in individual contests had amply avenged 
their wrongs. On one occasion a party of seven Indians made 
prisoner of a Mr. Sawyer, whom they bound, and marched off 
into the wilderness. Having proceeded eight or ten miles, 
they laid themselves down to sleep for the night. But their 
prisoner had been less effectually secured than they supposed. 
In the course of the nig-ht he succeeded in disengaging his 
hands, and cautiously taking a hatchet from the girdle of one 
of the Indians, he despatched six of them in rapid succession, 
and wounded the seventh, who made his escape. Having thus 
relieved himself of his keepers, Sawyer returned home in 
safety, and at his leisure.f 

Soon after the battle of Monmouth, Lieutenant Colonel Wil- 
liam Butler, with one of the Pennsylvania regiments and a 
detachment of Morgan's riflemen, was ordered to the North, 

♦ Letter of Rev. Mr. Fenn, of Harpersfield. f Campbell's Annals. 



356 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

and stationed at Schoharie. Butler was a brave and expe- 
rienced officer, especially qualified for the service upon which 
he was appointed.* His arrival in Schoharie had a salu- 
tary effect, by discouraging the disaffected, and by the presence 
of a stronger force than had yet been among them, establishing 
the confidence and reviving the spirits of the people. Several 
of his scouting parties also returned with good success. At- 
tached to the rifle corps, under Captain Long, were several bold 
spirits, who signalized themselves so greatly in the partisan 
warfare in which they were engaged, that many of their ex- 
ploits are freshly remembered among the inhabitants of Scho- 
harie to this day. Of this number were David Elerson, and a 
Virginian named Murphy. The first expedition of Captain 
Long was directed to the valley of the Charlotte river — one of 
the upper tributaries of the Susquehanna, flowing from the 
mountains south of Schoharie. The object was to arrest and 
bring to the fort a conspicuous Tory living upon that stream, 
named Service. His house being a point of rendezvous and 
supply for the Tory and Indian scouts, it was desirable that it 
should be broken up. While on his way to the place of desti- 
nation, it was the good fortune of Captain Long to intercept a 
company of Tories, enlisted for the King's service, in the neigh- 
borhood of Catskill, by a Captain Smith, who were then on 
their way to join Sir John Johnson at Niagara. Smith was 
killed by the simultaneous shots of Elerson and liis Captain — 
tliey being a few rods in advance at the moment when the Tory 
leader emerged at the head of his men from a thicket. His 
followers fled in every direction. They had intended to lodge 
that night with Service ; but that unfortunate man had guests 
of quite another character. While unapprised of danger, his 
house was surrounded by the troops of Long, when in an in- 
stant Murphy and Elerson rushed in, and made him a prisoner. 
Having been informed that he must accompany them to Scho- 
harie, on leaving his house he seized an axe standing by the 
door, which he poised, and directed for a blow at the head of 
Murphy. The latter was too quick-sighted to receive it ; but 
as he sprang aside to avoid the descending weapon, Service fell 
dead from the rifle of Elerson. 

After his term of enlistment had expired. Murphy remained 

* Letter of Wasliinoton to General Stark. 



1778.] AFFAIRS AT FORT SCHUYLER. 357 

in Schobarie, and made war on liis own account. He was as 
remarkable for his fleetness, as for his courage and gfreat pre- 
cision in firing. He used a double-barrelled rifle ; and the fact 
of his frequendy firing twice in succession, without stopping to 
load, and always bringing down his man, rendered him a ter- 
ror to the Indians. Not knowing the peculiar construction of 
his rifle, they were impressed with the belief that it was a 
charmed weapon, and supposed he could continue firing as 
long and as often as he pleased without loading at all. He 
fought the savages after their own fashion — was more than 
their equal in stratagem or with his heels— and the greater the 
apparent danger he was encountering, the greater was his de- 
light. When he had opportunity, he took pattern of the In- 
dians in scalping those who fell by his unerring aim ; and it 
was said that he killed forty of their warriors with his own 
hands. 

Colonel Gansevoort yet remained in the command of Fort 
Schuyler, and was continued there during nearly the whole 
year, although, wearied by inaction, Willett, and others of his 
officers, made a strong and formal effort to be relieved, that 
their regiment might have an opportunity to distinguish them- 
selves in the field with the main army. At Fort Schuyler 
they could have little else to do than observe the motions of the 
enemy on the lakes and the St. Lawrence, and to watch, and 
occasionally cut off, a hostile party when venturing too near 
the garrison. But from the correspondence of the officers, it 
would appear that the troops of the garrison must have been 
the severest sufferers from this petty mode of warfare, since the 
enemy seemed ever to be hovering in the precincts, ready to 
bring down or carry into captivity such straggling soldiers as 
ventured beyond musket-shot from the fort.* 

* As an example of these individual murders, the following passage is copied 
from a MS. letter from Major Robert Cochran to Colonel Gansevoort, dated Sept. 
8, 1778. During the occasional absences of Colonf 1 Gansevoort, Major Cochran 
was in command of the post :— " This morning, Benjamin Acker, of Captain De 
Witt's company, who was out in the meadow, was killed and scalped by a party of 
Indians, who were seen and fired at by the sentinel near Brodack's house. I heard 
the firing in my room, and ran to the officer of the guard to know what was the 
matter. I was informed that a party of Indians had fired upon one of our men who 
had gone to catch a horse, and that he had either been killed or taken prisoner. I 
ordered Captain Bleecker to go out immediately, with the guard just parading, to see 



358 LIFE OF BRANT. 1778. 

Early in July, Lieutenant M'Clellan, an active and efficient 
officer, was sent with a small party to destroy the buildings and 
public works at Osweo^o, which it was ascertained were not at 
that moment in the occupation of the enemy. The object of 
the expedition was accomplished and the buildings where burnt 
to the ground, together with a quantity of ammunition, pro- 
visions, and other public stores. It seems unaccountable that 
this post should have been left thus wholly unprotected ; the 
only occupants found by the American party being a woman 
and her children, and a lad fourteen years old. The woman 
and her family, together with her furniture and a suitable 
supply of provisions, were placed in an out-building, and left 
without farther molestation. The boy was brought off as a 
prisoner, and furnished some important information touching 
the movements of the enemy between their island rendezvous 
in the St. Lawrence, and Niagara.* 

But Colonel Ganscvoort had some serious troubles to en- 
counter within the garrison, and some painful duties to execute. 
Nothwithstanding the high character which the forces consti- 
tuting the garrison had acquired, and the sound patriotism of 
his officers, the spirit of disaffection appeared among them in 
the Spring, and the early part of the Summer, to an alarming 
extent. Distant as was the post of Fort Schuyler from New- 
York, Sir Henry Clinton had succeeded in the introduction of 
an emissary within the fort, in the character of a recruit. His 
name was Samuel Geake. He was an American soldier, and 
had been corrupted while a prisoner in New- York, whence he 
was sent forth, in company with Major Hammell, also an Ame- 
rican prisoner, whose virtue yielded to the all-subduing power 
of gold.t Geake accompanied Hammell to Poughkeepsie, 

if he could find him dead or ahve. Theyfoiind Acker lying dead. He was scalped, 
and a weapon about two feet and a half long, like this " — [here Major Cochran gave 
a drawincr of the instrument — a war club, with a blade like the spear of a lance in- 
serted in the side, near the upper end of it,] — "lying near him. This lance-head 
had been stuck several times in his body. It is supposed to have been left behind 
on purpose, as there were several marks on it, denoting the number of persons killed 
and scalps taken by the means of it."— [Captain Bleecker mentioned in the forego- 
in" extract, is the venerable Leonard Bleecker, yet living at Sing Sing. He was a 
very active and efficient officer at Fort Schuyler for a long time.] 

* MS. draft of a letter from Colonel Gansevoort to General Stark, July 10, 1778. 

t Hammell was Brigade-major to General James Clinton, and had been taken by 
Sir Henry Clinton at the storming of Fort Montgomery. ■_ According to Geake's 



177B.] AFFAIRS AT FORT SCHUYLER. 359 

where, in fbrtherance of his iniquitous designs, he enhsted in 
Captain Abraham Swartvvout's company,* and was transferred 
to Fort Schuyler, to join Colonel Gansevoort's regiment ; into 
which place, for specific objects, he was instructed to insinuate 
himself by an aidde-camp of Sir Henry Clinton. After Ham- 
mell's arrest, Colonel Varick wrote to Gansevoort. putting him 
on his guard as to the character of Geake. A sergeant named 
Kartele was employed by Colonel Gansevoort to ingratiate 
himself in Geake's confidence, and, if possible, ascertain his 
true character, and penetrate his designs. The commission 
was successfully executed by the sergeant, and the whole cir- 
cumstances of Hammell's employment by the enemy, and his 
own, were elicited. Geake was thereupon arrested, but not 
until he had made great progress in his designs, and was on 
the eve of desertion, for the purpose of joining the British army 
in Philadelphia. He was tried by a court-martial made a full 
confession, and, with his confederates, was sentenced to death.! 
The sentence was not carried into execution against Geake, 
not only because the constitution of the court was irregular, 
but because of the desire of the Commander-in-chief to spare 
him as a witness against Hammell, as will presently appear. 
The following documents will complete this section of the pro- 
ceedings at Fort Schuyler :— 



confession, Hammell was employed in the commissary of prisoners' department, 
by the British officers in New- York, before he was sent out upon his mission of 
treason. General James Clinton, by the way, was not taken at Fort Montgomery, 
as stated in the text account of that affair. Though wounded, he escaped ; although 
his-brother, the Governor, supposed him to be a prisoner, when he wrote his official 
account to the Committee of Safety. 

♦ Captain Swartwout was with Gansevoort at the siege of Fort Schuyler, and 
gave his cloth cloak to form the blue stripes of the flag spoken of in the account 
of the siege, as being made up for the occasion. 

t These facts have been gathered from the proceedings of the court-martial, pre- 
served amonc General Gansevoort's papers. The president of the court was Cap- 
tain Greece., who had been shot, tomahawked, and scalped, the year before. Ac- 
cordincr to'Geake's confession, Hammell was promised a Colonelcy of a new Irish 
regiment to be raised from deserters from the American army, and such others as 
they could enlist Geake was to receive a commission as lieutenant. His mission 
to Fort Schuyler was to acquire accurate knowledge of its strength and the 
extent of its supplies-to induce as many of the garrison to desert as possible-aiid 
to spike the cannon on their departure. 



360 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

Colonel Gansevoort to General Washington. 

" Fort Schuyler, August 13, 1778. 
"Sir, 

"I have the imhappiness to inform your Excellency that 
desertion has lately been very frequent from this garrison. 
Since the 26th of last March we have had three sergeants, two 
corporals, and twenty privates desert from this battalion, besides 
one bombardier, one gunner, and one other from the artillery. 
Before the date above mentioned, several soldiers had been 
tried by a general Court Martial at this garrison for desertion, 
but never received the punishment due their crimes. The sen- 
tences of these different courts martial were carefully sent to 
the commanding General of this Department,* but no returns 
have been ever received. Some time in June last, Colonel 
Varick informed me that a recruit, who had just joined our bat- 
talion, was suspected of being a confederate with Major Hara- 
mell. I ordered his conduct to be narrowly inspected. He 
was detected in the fact of corrupting and enticing the soldiers 
to desert. Upon being apprehended, he confessed that he came 
upon such designs, and was sent by an aid-de-camp of Sir 
Henry Clinton as a spy — to endeavor to enlist what Irishmen 
he could from the American arm.y. There was every appear- 
ance of his being a spy. He was immediately tried by a gene- 
ral court martial — the sentence was directly sent down for ap- 
probation, but no answer has been received, and the man still 
lies confined in irons. 

" Finding the spirit of desertion to increase, and the men in 
general to be exceeding uneasy, — probably arising from their 
being so long stationed on this frontier post. They have been 
frequently heard in their private conversations to say that they 
would sooner die than stay here the ensuing winter. My of- 
ficers, as well as myself, were convinced, that unless some ex- 
ample was made, we should not be able to check this growing 
evil. A party of five men deserted on the 10th of August. 
They were taken by the Tuscarora Indians, on their way to 
Canada, fifty miles from this fort. They were brought in on 
the 13th. A general court martial was convened on the 15th. 
They were sentenced to die. The officers in a body desired 

* General Stark was then in command at Albany. 



1778.] AFFAIRS AT FORT SCHUYLER. 361 

their immediate execution, as the only way effectually to stop 
the increasing spirit of desertion. 

" While these men were under sentence of death, a party re- 
turned from the German Flatts, who had been to drive cattle 
to this garrison. They had lost six men by desertion, who 
were pursued, but without effect. This, together with the 
above reasons, and being apprehensive of some design of the 
enemy, and hearing a report which they had carefully spread 
among the savages, of having upward of seventy men enlisted 
in this garrison, who would rise upon their appearance, con- 
vinced me of the necessity of a rigid example, and resolved me 
to take the advice of my officers by ordering the prisoners to 
be executed. They were accordingly shot at the head of the 
regiment on the 17th.* In doing of which, although I could 
not find that the articles of war gave me the fullest authority, 
yet, as commanding officer of a frontier post, far distant from 
the Commander in-chief, and having a separate commission 
from Congress as commandant of this post, I considered myself 
fully empowered in a case of such great necessity. I hope 
your Excellency will be convinced of this necessity, and ap- 
prove of the justness of the execution. Inclosed your Excel- 
lency has a copy of the proceedings of the court martial. I 
am, &c." 

General Washington to Colonel Gansevoort. 
" Head- Quarters, White Plaifis, j 
''29th A7igiist, 1778. ) 

"Sir. 

" I have just received your favor of the 13th instant. In- 
closed is a copy of a letter sent you some time ago respecting 
the court martial you transmitted. 

" The spirit of desertion which possessed your soldiers, was 
certainly very alarming, and required a serious check. I hope 
the intention of the example you have made will be fully an- 
swered ; and although the proceeding was not strictly in the 
prescribed form, yet the necessity of the case may justify the 
measure. 

* Notwithstanding this severe example, it is noted in the private diary of Adju- 
tant Hutton, of Colonel Gansevoorl's regiment, that on the same day on which these 
five men were tried and sentenced to death, six others deserted ; and two others de- 
serted five days after their execution.— FicZe Gansevoorfs papers. 



362 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

" I have spoken to Lieut. Colonel Willett on the application 
of the officers of the ^arrison. It is impossible to comply at 
present with their request, things are so circumstanced — but 
I shall take steps to relieve it before winter.* 

" I am, sir, your obedient, humble serv't. 

" Geo. Washington." 
" Col. GansevoortJ^t 

The position of Fort Schuyler was of the first importance, 
as the key to the western entrance of the Mohawk country ; but 
it was nevertheless too remote from the upper German settle- 
ments of the valley, to afford them protection from sudden ir- 
ruptions of the enemy avoiding that fortress in their approach. 
The consequence was. that the work of destruction was actively 
prosecuted among the settlements referred to, during the Sum- 
mer of this year. The first blow was struck upon a small and 
rather secluded hamlet, called Andrus-town, situated about six 
miles south-east of the German Flatts,t on the 1 8th of July, by 
a small party of Indians led by Brant in person. This settle- 
ment consisted of seven families, planted upon a lot of one 

* In November following, Gansevoorl's command was relieved by Colonel Guise 
Van Schaick, whose regiment was assigned to that post. 

t These letters have been copied by the author from the originals. The enclo- 
sure mentioned in the above letter from General Washington reads as follows : — 

[Copy.] 

" Head-Q,uarlm-s, While Plains, ) 
" August U, 1778. 3 

" Sir, 
" I have received the proceedings of a court-martial held by your order, respecting 
Samuel Geake. As neither the articles of war, nor any resolves of Congress, au- 
thorise the constituting of general courts-martial by any other than the Commander 
in-chief, the commanding officer of a separate department, or a general officer com- 
manding in a particular State, I should have been under the necessity of ordering a 
second trial, and appointing a court for the purpose, if it had been judged expedient 
to bring Geake to punishment. But as his confession contains information very 
pointedly against Major Hammell, which concurs with other accounts I have received, 
I think it of more importance to the public to save Geake, as a witness against Ham- 
mell, than to make an example of him. You will therefore keep him in such a kind 
of confinement as will effectually prevent his escape, till matters are ripe for the 
prosecution of Major Hammell, and at the same time will be as little rigorous as the 
nature of the case will admit. He need, however know nothing of my intention. 
I am, &c. 

"Geo. Washington." 
" Col. Gansevoort.^' 



I In the North part of the present town of Warren. 



1778.J DESTRUCTION OF GERMAN FLATTS. 363 

thousand acres.* They were in affluent circumstances for 
borderers, and the object of the invasion was plunder. The 
settlement was utterly destroyed — every thing of value that 
could be removed, was carried away — the houses and other 
building-s were reduced to ashes — an aged man named Bell, with 
his son and two others, was killed — one other inhabitant 
perished in the flames of his own house — and the remainder of 
the little colony were carried into captivity. Advices of this 
catastrophe had no sooner reached the Flatts, than a party of 
resolute Whigs determined to pursue the marauders, among 
whom was John Frank, one of the Committee of Safety.f Ar- 
riving at the scene of desolation, they hastily buried the dead, 
and continued their march, accompanied by six or seven 
friendly Indians, to the Little Lakes,! where, also, was a small 
white colony known as " Young's Settlement," from the name 
of its founder. Here it was discovered that the enemy was so far 
in advance, that the chase was relinquished. But as Young, 
the head man of the settlement, was a Tory, as also was his 
next neighbor, a man named Collyer, the exasperated Whigs 
avenged, to a small extent, the destruction of Andrus-town, by 
plundering and burning their habitations. 

But the most considerable event of the season in that vicinity, 
was the entire destruction of the comparatively extensive and 
populous settlement of the German Flatts. This settlement, 
originally called Burnetsfield, from the circumstance that the 
patent had been granted by Governor Burnet, extended over 
the richest and most beautiful section of the Mohawk Valley, 
comprehending the broad alluvial lands directly beyond the 
junction of the West Canada creek and the river, and includ- 
ing about ten miles of the valley from east to west. Midway 
of the settlement, on the south side of the river, yet stands the 
ancient stone church, the westernmost of the line of those 
structures built under the auspices of Sir William Johnson. 

* The names of the proprietors were Bell, Frank, Oosterhoudt, Crim, Staring, 
Lepper, and Hoyer. 

t John Frank, Esq. yet a resident of German Flatts, very old, but with mental 
faculties unimpaired. The author has known him these twenty-five years, and in 
September, 1837, paid him a visit. Most of the information respecting the events 
now immediately under consideration, is derived from him. 

t Two small lakes in the South-east part of the town of Warren, discharging 
their waters into Otsego Lake. 



364 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

A short distance east of the church stood the large and mas- 
sive-built stone mansion of the Herkimer family, which, like 
the church itself, was used as a fort.* Hence it was caUed Fort 
Herkimer. On the north side of the river, upon a gravelly- 
plain, elevated some ten or fifteen feet above the surrounding 
flatts, stood Fort Dayton. t 

At the time of which we are writing, the settlement on the 
south side of the river numbered tliirty-four dwelling-houses, 
and there were about an equal number upon the north side, 
together with as many barns and other out-buildings, and 
several mills. The population, for the number of houses, was 
numerous. The lands, rich by nature, and well cultivated, 
had that year brought forth by handfuls ; so that the barns 
were amply stored with their products. 

It was at the close of August, or early in the month of Septem- 
ber, that tliis fine district was laid waste by the Indians under the 
direction of Brant. Most providentially, however, the invasion 
was attended with the loss of but two lives — one man being 
killed outright, and another, named M'Ginnis, perished in the 
flames. The particulars of this hostile irruption were these : — 
Entertaining some suspicions of Brant, who was at Unadilla, 
a scout of four men had been despatched into that vicinity for 
observation. Three of these men were killed at the Edmeston 
settlement. The fourth, John Helmer, succeeded in making 
his escape, and returned to the flatts at half an hour before sun- 
down, just in time to announce that Brant, with a large body 
of Indians, was advancing, and would, in a few hours, be upon 
them. All was, of course, terror and alarm through the settle- 

* It was at this place that the first Liberty Pole in the valley was reared, in the 
Spring of 1775. The sheriff of Tryon County, White, with whose subsequent his- 
tory the reader is already acquainted, came up to the flatts with a large body of 
militia from Johnstown, and cut it down. While had been a captain in the FrcHch 
war. 

t The present site of the village of Herkimer, in the town of the same name, and 
one of the most beautiful localities in America. The name of German Flatts was 
designed for this town, which would have been the most appropriate, as Herkimer 
would have been for the town on the south side of the river, now called German 
Flatts, where the flatts are far less extensive, and where the Herkimer family 
resided. The mistake was made by the legislature when the towns were named. 
This explanation, together with the geographical description in the text, is necessary 
to prevent confusion in regard to the localities of Forts Dayton and Herkimer, in 
the record of subsequent events. 



1778.] DESTRUCTION OF GERMAN FLATTS. 365 

merit; and the inhabitants — men, women, and children — were 
gathered into Forts Dayton and Herkimer for security. In 
flying to those defences, they gathered up the most vaUiable of 
their stuff, and by means of boats and canoes upon the river, 
succeeded, in the course of the evening, in collecting a large 
portion of their best articles of furniture. But they had no 
time to look after their flocks and herds. 

Early in the evening Brant arrived at the edge of the settle- 
ment, but as the night came on excessively dark and rainy, he 
halted with his forces in a ravine, near the house of his Tory 
friend Shoemaker, where the younger Butler and his party 
were captured the preceding year. Here the chieftain lay 
with his warriors until the storm broke away toward morning 
— unconscious that his approach had been notified to the peo- 
ple by the scout in season to enable them to escape the blow 
of his uplifted arm. Before the dawn he was on foot, and his 
warriors were sweeping through the settlement; so that the torch 
might be almost simultaneously applied to every building it 
contained. Just as the day was breaking in the east, the fires 
were kindled, and the whole section of the valley was speedily 
illuminated by the flames of houses and barns, and all things 
else combustible. The spectacle, to the people in the forts, 
was one of melancholy grandeur. Every family saw the 
flames and smoke of its own domicil ascending to the skies, 
and every farmer the whole product of his labor for the season 
dissolving into ashes. 

Having no fire-arms larger than their rifles, the Indians 
avoided even a demonstration against the forts, notwithstanding 
their chagrin that neither scalps nor prisoners were to grace 
their triumph. But as the light of day advanced, their warriors 
were seen singly, or in small groups, scouring the fields, and 
driving away all the horses, sheep, and black cattle that could 
be found. Nothing upon which they could lay their hands 
was left ; and the settlement, which, but the day before, for ten 
miles had smiled in plenty and in beauty, was now houseless 
and destitute.* Happily, however, of human life there was no 

* The Remembrancer states that there were 63 dwelling-houses, 57 bams, 3 
grist-mills, and two saw-mills burnt, with most of the furniture and grain kept 
therein ; and 235 horses, 229 horned-cattle, 269 sheep, and 93 oxen, taken and car- 
ried away. Judge Frank informed the author that he was upon guard on the morn- 



366 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

greater sacrifice than has already been mentioned. After the 
Indians had decamped with their booty, a force of between 
three and four hundred militia-men collected, and went in pur- 
suit — following as far as Edmeston's plantation on the Una- 
dilla river, where the bodies of the three scouts were found and 
buried. But no other results attended this expedition.* A party 
of the Oneida Indians was more successful. They penetrated 
into one of the Unadilla settlements, burnt several houses, retook 
some of the cattle driven from the German Flatts, and brought 
olf a number of prisoners. The results of this little expedition 
were communicated to Major Cochran, then in command at 
Fort Schuyler, on or about the 25th of September, by a depu- 
tation of about one hundred of the Oneida and Tuscarora war- 
riors, in the following speech : — 

•' Brothers : We have now taken the hatchet and burnt 
Unadilla,! and a place called the Butternuts. We have brought 
five prisoners from each of those places. Our warriors were 
particular that no hurt should be done to women and children. 
We left four old men behind, who were no more able to go to 
war. We have re-taken William Dygert, who was taken 
about nine weeks ago by Brant on Fall Hill. We now deliver 
him to you, so that lie may return to his friends. Last year 
we took up the hatchet at Stillwater, and we will now continue 
it in our hands. The Grasshopper, one of the Oneida chiefs, 
took to himself one of the prisoners to live with him in his own 
family, and has adopted him as a son. 

'•' Brothers : We deliver you six prisoners, with whom you 
are to act as you please. 

inw of the conflagration, standing upon the corner of the fort (Herkimer,) which 
afforded him the best view of the scene when the flames broke forth. He also saw 
the dusky swarms of savages rush down the hill-slopes into the meadows after the 
cattle, as soon as it was sufficiently light to discern objects with tolerable distinct- 
ness. The whole scene, he says, was picturesque and sublime. 

=* " Captain Gilbert Tice came from Niagara a few days before Brant set out with 
his party to destroy the German Flatts. He had 33 Indians with him, mostly Mo- 
hawks. Brant's whole party at the German Flatts was 300 Tories, and 152 In- 
dians. There were no regular troops amongst them." — MS. letter of Major Cochran 
to Colonel Gansevoort, Sept. 28, 1778. 

t The Indians must have meant one of the upper settlements on the Unadilla, 
somewliere between the Butternuts and the " Forks," about twenty-five miles north 
of the embouchure of that river into the Susquehanna. The principal town of the 
Indians was at the mouth of the river, and was destroyed two or three weeks after- 
ward by Colonel Butler, as will presently appear. 



1778.1 EXPEDITION OF COLONEL BUTLER. 



367 



" Brothers : You had a man scalped here some time ago. 
We Oneidas and Tuscaroras have now taken revenge, and 
have brought you some slaves. We do not take scalps. We 
hope you are now convinced of our friendship to you and your 
great cause. The warriors detain two of the prisoners till to- 
morrow morning. The Canasaragas have one in their posses- 
sion. They will bring him to-morrow or the next day."* 

The Oneidas, with very few exceptions, were ever faithful 
to the cause of the Whigs, and sometimes fought with great 
personal bravery. The' Oriskany clan of that nation joined 
General Herkimer on the morning of his disastrous battle, 
under their chiefs Cornelius and Colonel Honyerry, and sus- 
tained themselves valiantly in that murderous conflict.! 

But the acquisitions of booty by the Indians at the German 
Flatts were more than counterbalanced, a few days afterward, 
by their losses in their own chief towns, Unadilla and Ogh- 
kwaga, which were invaded, and in turn laid waste, by Colonel 
William Butler, with the 4th Pennsylvania regiment, a detach- 
ment of Colonel Morgan's rifle-men, then recently stationed at 
Schoharie, as we have already seen, and a corps of twenty 
rangers. Having marched from Schoharie to the head waters 
of the Delaware, and descended that stream two days' march, 
Colonel Butler struck ofl" thence to the Susquehanna, upon 
which he emerged in the neighborhood of Unadilla. He ap- 
proached the settlement with great caution ; but the enemy had 
left the place several days before. Two of the white set- 
tlers, Tories, were made prisoners, however, one of whom was 
compelled to guide the forces of Butler to Oghkwaga, which 
service he performed. The town was taken possession of 
without interruption, the Indians having fled the day before in 
the greatest confusion— leaving behind a large quantity of corn, 
their dogs, some cattle, and a great part of their household 
goods. The march of Butler's troops had been fatiguing, and 
the vegetables and poultry, which they found here in great 
abundance, enabled them to fare sumptuously during their 

* MS. reportof Major Cochran to Colonel Gansevoort. 

t This fact was derived from Judge Frank, after the chapter containing the ac- 
count of the batde of Oriskany was written, Honyerry, or Hansjune Tewahon- 
grahkon, as his name stands in the archives of the war department, was commis- 
sioned a captain by the Board of War in 1779. 

51 



368 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

Stay. The town was uncommonly well built for an Indian settle- 
ment, there being a considerable number of good farm-houses 
on either side of the river. These were all destroyed, together 
with the Indian castle three miles farther down the river, as also 
large quantities of provisions, intended for their winter's supply. 
They saw nothing of the enemy, and lost only one man at that 
place, who was shot by an Indian straggler lurking in ambush. 
Returning to Unadilla, that settlement, upon both sides of the 
river, was burnt, as also a grist-mill and saw-mill — the only 
ones in the Susquehanna valley.* 

But although, so far as fighting was concerned, it was an 
easy campaign, still the difficulties encountered by the expedi- 
tion were very great, and such as could not have been under- 
gone but by men " possessing a large share of hardiness, both 
"of body and mind. They were obliged to carry their provi- 
" sions on their backs ; and, thus loaded, frequently to ford 
" creeks and rivers. After the toils of hard marches, they were 
" obliged to camp down during wet and chilly nights without 
"covering, or even the means of keeping their arms dry."t 
They completed their work in sixteen days, and returned to 
Schoharie. But the Indians were not slow in taking their re- 
venge for this destruction of their towns. An Indian's ven- 
geance slumbers no longer than until an opportunity is afforded 
for sating it, as will appear in the ensuing chapter. 

* Letter of Colonel William Butler to General Slaik. + Ramsay. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Walter N. Butler — His flight from Albany, bent on revenge — The Great Tree — 
Hostile indicalions among the Senecas and Cayugas — Premonitions of an attack 
by Butler and Brant upon Cherry Valley — Discredited by Colonel Alden — Scouts 
sent out and captured — Surprise of the town — Massacre and burning — Death of 
Colonel Alden — Families of Mr. Wells, Mr. Dunlop, and others — Brutality of the 
Tories — Family of Mr. Mitchell — The monster Newberry — Departure of the 
enemy with their captives — A night of gloom — Women and children sent back — 
Letter of Butler to Gen. Schuyler — Murder of Mrs. Campbell's mother — Vindi- 
cation of Brant — Interesting incident — Brant's opinion of Capt. M'Kcan — Colo- 
nel John Butler laments the conduct of his son — Letter of General James Clinton 
to Walter Butler — Letter of Butler in reply — Molly Brant — Particulars of Mrs. 
Campbell's captivity — Feast of thanksgiving for their victory — The great feast of 
the White Dogs — Return of Walter Butler from Cluebec — Colonel Butler negotiates 
with the Indians for Mrs. Campbell — She goes to Niagara — Catharine Montour 
and her sons — Mrs. Campliell finds her children — Descends the St. Lawrence to 
Montreal — Meets Mrs. Butler — Arrives at Albany, and is joined by her husband 
— Grand campaign projected — Jacob Helmer and others sent privately to Johns- 
town for the irori chest of Sir John — Execution of Helmer — Arrival of British 
Commissioners — Not received — E,xchange of Ministers with France — ^Incidents 
of the war elsewhere for the year. 

The arrest of Walter N. Butler, at the German Flatts, in the 
Summer of 1777 ; his trial, and condemnation to death ; his re- 
prieve ; as also his subsequent imprisonment in Albany, and 
his escape ; are facts with which the reader has already been 
made acquainted. Although his execution would have been 
perfectly justifiable under the code militaire, taken, as he had 
been, within the American lines, in the very act of inviting the 
people to treason ; yet the respectability of his family, and the 
associations he had himself formed in Albany, where he had 
been educated to the profession of the law, were the causes, 
through the interposition of those who had been his personal 
friends before the war, of saving his life. Still, the reprieve 
granted by General Arnold was followed by rigorous confine- 
ment in the jail at Albany until the Spring of the present year ; 
when, being. either sick in reality, or feigning to be so, through 
the clemency of General Lafayette his quarters were changed 
to a private house, where he was guarded by a single sentinel. 
It appears that the family with whom he lodged were Tories 
at heart ; and having succeeded in making the sentinel drunk, 
through their assistance Butler was enabled to effect his escape. 
A horse having been provided for him, he succeeded in joining 
his father at Niagara soon after the affair at Wyoming. His 



370 LIFE OF BRANT. [177S 

temper was severe and irascible ; but he was nevertheless not 
without his good qualities, and was a young man of fair pro- 
mise — " a pretty able young lawyer," to use an expression from 
the lips of one who knew him well.* It is believed, however, 
that he took mortal offence at his treatment while in Albany, 
and re-entered the service of the Crown, burning with resent- 
ment and thirsting for revenge. 

This recapitulation, in part, of a portion of the younger But- 
ler's history, is deemed essential in connexion with the events 
to be recorded in the present chapter. 

There was with General Washington, during most of the 
Summer, a Seneca chief, called The Great Tree^ who, on leav- 
ing the head-quarters of the Commander-in-chief, professed the 
strongest friendship for the American cause, and his first object, 
after his return to his own people, was to inspire them with his 
own friendly sentiments. While passing through the Oneida 
nation on his way home, he professed the strongest confidence 
in his ability to keep his own tribe bound in the chain of friend- 
ship, and pledged himself, in the event of his failure, to come 
down with his friends and adherents, and join the Oneidas. 
Early in October, Mr. Dean, the Indian. interpreter and agent 
in the Oneida territory, wrote to Major Cochran, then in com- 
mand of Fort Schuyler, that, not hearing from The Great Tree 
as soon as they expected, they had despatched messengers to 
the Seneca country, who had returned with unflivorable intel- 
ligence. It was stated, that on his arrival in his own country 
The Great Tree found his tribe all in arms. The warriors had 
been collected from the remotest of their lodges, and were then 
thronging the two principal towns, Kanadaseago and Jennesee. 
Having heard that the Americans were preparing an expedi- 
tion against their country, they had flown to arms ; and The 
Great Tree was himself determined to chastise the enemy who 
should dare to penetrate his country. The Oneida messengers 
were farther told that all the Indians west of their own tribe, 
including, of course, the Onondagas, together with the Indian 
settlements on the Susquehanna and its branches, were to join 
them. They were to rendezvous somewhere on the Tioga, 

* The venerable Joha Frank of German Flatts. Butler studied law with the 
late Francis Sylvester. 



177S.] INVASION OF CHERRY VALLEY. 371 

and make a descent either upon the Pennsylvania or New Jer- 
sey frontier.* 

The Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea, does not appear to 
have been among the Senecas at this time ; and it is beheved 
that the fermentation had been wrought by Butler, after his 
return to Niagara. Be that as it may, he obtained the com- 
mand of a detachment of his father's rangers, with permission 
to employ the forces of Captain Brant. Though late in the 
season, young Walter determined to undertake an expedition 
into Tryon County, and avenge his imprisonment.! It has 
been asserted, that while on his way from Niagara with his 
rangers, Butler met Brant returmng from the Susquehanna 
country to his old winter-quarters at Niagara, and that the 
proud Mohawk was not a little displeased at the idea of being 
assigned to a subordinate station under a man whom he cor- 
dially disliked. However, the difficulty was adjusted, and the 
sachem was prevailed upon to turn back upon the white set- 
tlements, with five hundred of his warriors. The united force 
comprised seven hundred men. 

The point selected by the enemy was Cherry Valley— a set- 
tlement as remarkable for the respectability of its inhabitants, 
as its location was for its beauty. Unlike the generality of 
border settlements, the people were intelligent, and exemplary 
for their morals. So scrupulous were they in regard to observ- 
ing the precepts of Christianity, that their Committee of Safety 
declined sitting with the Tryon County Committee on the Sab- 
bath day — unless in the event of such alarming circumstances 
as would necessarily " super-exceed the duties to be performed 
in attending the pubhc worship of God " — which, they said, 
did not then appear to be the case.t 

It has already been stated, that in consequence of their exposed 
situation, the Marquis de Lafayette had directed the erection of 
a fortification at that place early the preceding Spring. Colo- 
nel Gansevoort at once solicited the command of the post, with 
the regiment which had so greatly distinguished itself the pre- 
ceding year in the defence of Fort Schuyler. But it was given 

* Letter of Major Cochran to Col. Gansevoort, October 10, 1778. 
t Campbell's Annals. 

t Letter to Tryon County Committee, signed by John Moore, Samuel Clyde, 
and Samuel Campbell, dated June 9, 1775. 



372 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

to Colonci Ichabod Alden, at the head of an eastern regiment, 
unfortunately but Httle accustomed to Indian warfare. 

On the Sth of November, Colonel Alden received a despatch 
from Fort Schuyler by express, advising him that his post was 
to be attacked by the Tories and Indians. The intelligence 
had been conveyed to Fort Schuyler by an Oneida Indian, 
reporting that he received it from one of the Onondagas, who 
had been present at a great meeting of the Indians and Tories 
at Tioga, at which the determination was formed. In conse- 
quence of the lateness of the season, the inhabitants, not antici- 
pating any farther hostilities before Spring, had removed their 
effects from the fortification, where, during the Summer, they 
had been deposited for safety, back to their own dwellings. 
On the receipt of this intelligence, they requested permission to 
remove once more into the fort, or at least to be allowed again 
to deposite their most valuable property within its walls. But 
Colonel Alden, discrediting the intelligence as an idle Indian 
rumor, denied their solicitations, assuring the people that he 
would use all diligence against surprise, and by means of vigi- 
lant scouts, be at all times prepared to warn them of approach- 
ing danger. Accordingly scouts were despatched in various 
directions on the 9tii. The party proceeding down the Sus- 
quehanna, as it were in the very face of the enemy, very wisely 
kindled a fire in the evening, by the side of which they laid 
themselves down to sleep. The result might have been fore- 
seen. They were all prisoners when they awoke ! 

Extorting all necessary information from the prisoners so 
opportunely taken, the enemy moved forward on the 10th — But- 
ler with his rangers, and Thayendanegea with his Indians — 
encamping for the m^^ht on the top of a hill, thickly covered 
with evergreens, about a mile south-west of the fort and village 
of Cherry Valley. The snow fell several inches during the 
night — the storm turning to rain in the morning, with a thick 
and cloudy atmosphere. The officers of the garrison were 
accustomed to lodge about among the families near the fort ; 
and from the assurances of Colonel Alden, the apprehensions of 
the people were so much allayed, that they were reposing in 
perfect security. Colonel Alden himself, with Stacia, his 
lieutenant-colonel, lodged with Mr. Robert Wells, a gentleman 
of great respectability, recently a judge of the county, who was, 



1778.] INVASION OF CHERRY VALLEY. 373 

moreover, an intimate friend of Colonel John Butler, as he had 
also been of Sir William Johnson.* Having ascertained the 
localities in which the officers lodged, the enemy approached 
the unsuspecting village in the greatest security, veiled by the 
haze which hung in the atmosphere. An alarm was, however, 
given, before the enemy had actually arrived in the village, by 
the firing of an Indian upon a settler from the outskirts, who 
was riding thither on horseback. He was wounded, but never- 
theless pushed forward, and gave instant information to the 
vigilant Colonel. Strange as it may seem, this officer still dis- 
believed the approach of an enemy in force — supposing the 
shot to have proceeded from a straggler. But he was soon 
convinced of his error ; for even before the guards could be 
called in, the Indians were upon them. Unfortunately, proba- 
bly, for the inhabitants, the rangers had halted just before 
entering the village to examine their arms, the rain having 
damaged their powder. During this pause, the Indians sprang 
forward ; and the Senecas, being at that period the most fero- 
cious of the Six Nations, v/ere in the van. The house of Mr. 
Wells was instantly surrounded by the warriors of that tribe, 
and several Tories of no less ferocity, who rushed in and mas- 
sacred the whole family, consisting at that time of himself, his 
mother, his wife, his brother and sister, John and Jane, three 
of his sons, Samuel, Robert, and William, and his daughter 
Eleanor. The only survivor of the family was John, who was 
then at school in Schenectady. His father had taken his 
family to that place for safety some months before, but his fears 
having subsided, they had just removed back to their home.t 
Colonel Alden, having escaped from the house, was pursued 
some distance down a hill by an Indian, who repeatedly de- 
manded of him to surrender. This, however, he refused to do, 
turning upon his pursuer repeatedly, and snapping his pistol, 
but without eftect. The Indian ultimately hurled his toma- 
hawk with unerring direction at his head, and rushing forward, 
tore his scalp from him in the same instant. Thus, in the very 
outset of the battle, fell the commander, who. had he been as 

* Robert Wells was the father of the late distinguished counsellor, John Wells, 
of New- York. 

t Notice of John Wells by William Johnson, Esq. concluding vol. of Johnson's 
Reports. 



374 LIFE OP BRANT. [1778. 

prudent as he was brave, might have averted the tragic scenes 
of that hapless day. Lieutenant-colonel Stacia was made 
prisoner ; and the American guards, stationed at the house of 
Mr. Wells, were all either killed or taken. 

The destruction of the family of Mr. Wells was marked by 
circumstances of peculiar barbarity. It was boasted by one of 
the Tories, that he had killed Mr . Wells while engaged in 
prayer — certainly a happy moment for a soul to wing its flight 
to another state of existence ; but what the degree of hardi- 
hood that could boast of compassing the death of an unarmed 
man at such a mom.ent ! His sister Jane was distinguished 
alike for her beauty, her accomplishments, and her virtues. 
As the savages rushed into the house, she fled to a pile of wood 
on the premises, and endeavored to conceal herself She was 
pursued and arrested by an Indian, who, with perfect compo- 
sure, wiped and sheathed his dripping knife, and took his toma- 
hawk from his girdle. At this instant a Tory, who had for- 
merly been a domestic in the family, sprang forward and inter- 
posed in her behalf — claiming her as a sister. The maiden, 
too, who understood somewhat of the Indian language, im- 
plored for mercy. But in vain. With one hand the Indian 
pushed the Tory from him, and with the other planted his 
hatchet deep into her temple ! 

The fort was repeatedly assaulted during the day, and at 
times with spirit ; but Indians are not the right description of 
troops for such service, and being received by a brisk fire of 
grape and musketry from the garrison, they avoided the fort, and 
directed their attention chiefly to plundering and laying waste 
the village, having sated themselves in the onset with blood. 
In this work of destruction they were unmolested, since, num- 
bering more than twice as many as the garrison, a sortie was 
felt to be unwarrantable. 

Among the families which suffered from the tomahawks of 
the Indians and Tories — for the latter, as at Wyoming, were 
not to be outdone by their uncivilized allies — were those of 
the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, and a Mr. Mitchell. Mrs. Dunlop 
was killed outright, and thus shared the fate of Mrs. Wells, who 
was her daughter. Mr. Dunlop and another daughter would 
likewise have been nmrdered but for the interposition of Little 
Aaron, a chief of the Oghkwaga branch of the Mohawks, who 



1778.] INVASION OF CHERRY VALLEY. 375 

led the old gentleman, tottering beneath tlie weight of years, to 
the door, and stood beside him for his protection. The Indians 
attempted to plunder him of some of his attire, but the sachem 
compelled them to relinquish that portion of their spoil. 
The venerable servant of God, shocked by the events of that 
day beyond the strength of his nerves, died within a year after- 
ward. 

The case of Mr. Mitchell was still more painful. He was 
in the field at work when he beheld the Indians approaching ; 
and being already cut off from his house, his only course was 
to betake himself to the woods. On returning to his home, 
after the enemy had retired, he found his house on fire, and 
within its plundered walls the murdered bodies of his wife and 
three of his children. The fourth, a little girl of ten or twelve 
years of age, had been left for dead. But signs of life appear- 
ins:, the parent, having extinguished the fire, which had not 
yet made much progress, brought his little mangled daughter 
forth to the door, and while bending over her, discovered a 
straggling party of the enemy approaching. He had but just 
time to conceal himself, before a Tory sergeant, named New- 
berry, rushed forward, and by a blow of his hatchet extinguished 
what little growing hope of life had been left, by a darker 
though less savage enemy than himself It is some consolation, 
while recording this deed of blood, to be able to anticipate the 
course of events, so far as to announce that this brutal fellow 
paid the forfeit of his life on the gallows, by order of General 
James Clinton, at Canajoharie, in the summer of the following 
year. On the next day Mr. Mitchell removed his dead to the 
fort with his own arms, and the soldiers assisted in their inter- 
ment. Several other families were cut off— the whole number 
of the inhabitants slain being thirty-two, mostly women and 
children. In addition to these, sixteen soldiers were killed. 
Some of the inhabitants escaped, but the greater proportion 
were taken prisoners. Among the former were Mrs. Clyde, 
the wife of Colonel Clyde, who was absent, and her family. 
She succeeded in reaching the woods with her children, ex- 
cepting her eldest daughter, whom she could not find at the 
moment ; and although the savages were frequently prowling 
around her, she yet lay secure in her concealment until the 
next day. The eldest daughter, likewise, had made a success- 
52 



376 LIFE OF BRANT. [L778 

fill flight, and returned in safety. Colonel Campbell was also 
absent ; but hastening home on hearing the alarm, he arrived 
only in time to behold the destruction of his property by the 
conflagration of the village, and to ascertain that his wife and 
children had been carried into captivity.* The torch was ap- 
plied indiscriminately to every dwelling-house, and, in fact, to 
every building in the village. The barns, being filled with the 
combustible products of husbandry, served to render the con- 
flagration more fierce and terrific ; especially to the fugitive 
inhabitants who had escaped to the woods for shelter, and 
whose sufferings were aggravated by the consciousness that 
their retreating footsteps were lighted bv the flames of their 
own households. 

The prisoners taken numbered between thirty and forty. 
They were marched, on the evening of the massacre, down the 
valley about two miles south of the fort, where the enemy en- 
camped for the night. Large fires were kindled round about 
the camp, into the centre of which the prisoners, of all ages and 
sexes, were promiscuously huddled, and there compelled to 
pass the hours till morning — many of them half naked, shivei-- 
ing from the inclemency of the weather, with no shelter but 
the frowning heavens, and no bed but the cold ground. It was 
a dismal night for the hapless group — rendered, if possible, still 
more painful by the savage yells of exultation, the wild, half- 



* Colonel Campbell was the grandfather of the author of the Annals of Tryon 
County, so frequently referred to in the present volume, to whom the author is 
almost exclusively indebted for the facts respecting the invasion of Cherry Valley. 
The author of the Annals being himself a native of that place, was not only famihar 
with its history from his cradle, bat has taken great pains to collect the facts. There 
is indeed no other reliable authority. Ramsay is equally brief and unsatisfactory ; 
while Macauley's wretched jumble of every thing, called, for what reason cannot 
be divined, a History of New- York, contains the most foul misrepresentations. 
The massacre was bad enough, in all conscience ; but when it is stated that, " not 
" content with killing the inhabitants, they ripped open and quartered the women, 
" and then suspended their mangled limbs on the trees — that the helpless infants 
" were taken from their mothers' breasts, and their brains knocked out against the 
" posts," — and when these statements are compared with the real facts of the case, 
we may well tremble for the truth of history. The simple incident wliich gave rise 
to this shocking tale of mutilating the bodies of the dying and dead, was this. One 
of the Tories had lived as a domestic with the Rev. Mr. Dunlop. He had run away 
in consequence of ill-treatment, as was alleged, on the part of Mrs. D. After she 
was slain, it is said he cut off her hand. But even this story is of doubtful au- 
theatjcity. 



1778.] INVASION OF CHERRY VALLEY. 377 

frantic revelry, and other manifestations of joy on the part of 
the victors, at the success of their bloody enterprise. In the 
course of the night a division of the spoil was made among tlie 
Indians, and on the following morning the march was resumed ; 
although parties of the Indians returned to prowl among the 
ruins of the village or hang upon its outskirts, during the 
greater part of the day, and until reinforcements of militia from 
the Mohawk Valley began to arrive, when they dispersed. 

The retiring enemy had not proceeded far on their way, be- 
fore the prisoners, with few exceptions, experienced a change 
in their circumstances, as happy as it was unexpected. They 
had been separated, for the convenience of travelling, into small 
groups, in charge of different parties of the enemy. On coming 
to a halt, they were collected together, and informed that it had 
been determined to release all the women and children, except- 
ing Mrs. Campbell and her four children, and Mrs. Moore and 
her children. These it was resolved to detain in captivity as 
a punishment to their husbands, for the activity they had dis- 
played in the border wars. With these exceptions, the women 
and their little ones were immediately sent back, bearing the 
following letter from the commander of the rangers, addressed 
to General Schuyler. As a key to the letter, and perhaps, 
also, to the motives of Captain Butler in this act of humanity, 
it should here be remarked, that on the flight of his father and 
himself to Canada, his mother and the younger children had 
been left behind. Mrs. Butler and her children were detained 
by the Committee of Safety, and permission to follow the hus- 
band and son to Canada had been refused, as has been stated 
in a former chapter : — 

Captain Butler to General Schuyler. 

" Cherry Valley, Nov. 12, 1778. 
"Sir, 
" I am induced by humanity to permit the persons whose 
names I send herewith, to return, lest the inclemency of the 
season, and their naked and helpless situation, might prove 
fatal to them, and expect that you will release an equal number 
of our people in your hands, amongst whom I expect you will 
permit Mrs. Butler and family to come to Canada ; but if you 
insist upon it, I do engage to send you, moreover, an equal 



378 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778 

number of prisoners of yours, taken either by the Ranchers or 
Indians, and will leave it to you to name the persons. I have 
done every thing in my power to restrain the fury of the In- 
dians from hurting women and children, or killing the prison- 
ers who fell into our hands, and would have more effectually 
prevented them, but that they were much incensed by the late 
destruction of their village of Anguaga* by your people. I shall 
always continue to act in that manner. I look upon it beneath 
the character of a soldier to wage war with women and 
children. I am sure you are conscious that Colonel Butler or 
myself have no desire that your women or children should be 
hurt. But, be assured, that if you persevere in detaining my 
father's family with you, that we shall no longer take the same 
pains to restrain the Indians from prisoners, women and 
children, that we have heretofore done. 

" I am, your humble servant, 

" Walter N. Butler, 
" Capt. Com. of the Rangers. 
"General Schuyler." t 

Having thus, in a great measure, disencumbered themselves 
of their prisoners, the enemy proceeded on their journey by 
their usual route at that period, down the Susquehanna to its 
confluence with the Tioga, thence up that river into the Seneca 
country, and thence to Niagara. Mrs. Cannon, an aged lady, 
and the mother of Mrs. Campbell, was likewise held in capti- 
vity ; but being unfitted for travelling by reason of her years, 
the Indian having both in charge despatched the mother with 
his hatchet, by the .side of the daughter, on the second day of 
their march. Mrs. Campbell was driven along by the uplifted 
hatchet, having a child in her arms eighteen months old, with 
barbarous rapidity, until the next day, when she was favored 
with a more humane master. In the course of the march a 
straggling party of the Indians massacred an English family 
named Buxton, residing on the Butternut Creek, and reduced 
their buildings to ashes.J 

Thus terminated the expedition of Walter N. Butler and 

* One of the old names of Unadilla. 

t This letter was recently found among the papers of General James Clinton. 
X There is some reason to doubt whether this murder of the Buxtons was not the 
work of tlio Oneidas, during; their excursion to Unadilla and the Butternuts. 



1778.] DESOLATION OF THE VILLAGE. 379 

Joseph Brant to Cherry Valley. Nothing could exhibit an as- 
pect of more entire desolation than did the site of that village 
on the following day, when the militia from the Mohawk ar- 
rived, too late to afford assistance. " The cocks crowed from 
" the tops of the forest trees, and the dogs howled through the 
" fields and woods." The inhabitants who escaped the massa- 
cre, and those who returned from captivity, abandoned the 
settlement, until the return of peace should enable them to plant 
themselves down once more in safety ; and in the succeeding 
Summer the garrison was withdrawn and the post abandoned. 
Next to the destruction of Wyoming, that of Cherry Valley 
stands out in history as having been the most conspicuous for 
its atrocity. And as in the case of Wyoming, both in history 
and popular tradition. Joseph Brant has been held up as the 
foul fiend of the barbarians, and of all others deserving the 
deepest execration. Even the learned and estimable counsel- 
lor, who so long reported the adjudicated law of the State of 
New- York,* in the tribute to the memory of the late John Wells, 
with which he closed the last volume of his juridical labors, 
has fallen into the same popular error ; and applies the second 
stanza in the striking passage of "Gertrude of Wyoming," 
which called forth the younger Brant in vindication of his fa- 
ther's memory, to the case of his departed and eminent friend.t 
It was indeed most true as applied to the melancholy case of 
Mr. Wells, of whose kindred " nor man, nor child, nor thing 
of Uving birth," had been left by the Indians. But it may be 
fearlessly asserted that it was not true as coupled with the 
name of Joseph Brant. It has already been seen that Brant 
was not the commander of this expedition ; and if he had been, 
it is not certain that he could have compelled a different result. 
But it is certain that his conduct on that fatal day was neither 
barbarous nor ungenerous. On the contrary, he did all in his 
power to prevent the shedding of innocent blood ; and had it 
not been for a circumstance beyond his control, it is more than 
probable that the distinguished counsellor referred to, would 
not have been left " alone of all his race." Captain Brant as- 

* William Johnson, Esq. long reporter of the Supreme Court, the Court of Errors, 
and the Court of Chancery of this State. 

t The passage referred to — as unjust as it is poetical — will be found near the closp 
of the second volume of the present work, in the sketch of the life of the younger 
Brant. 



380 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

serted, and there is no reason to question his veracity, that on 
the morning of the attack, he left the main body of the Indians, 
and endeavored to anticipate their arrival at the house of Mr. 
Wells, for the purpose of affording protection to the family. 
On his way it was necessary to cross a ploughed field, the 
yielding of the earth in which, beneath his tread, so retarded 
his progress, that he arrived too late. 

But this is not all. On entering one of the dwellings, he 
found a woman employed in household matters. " Are you 
thus engaged," inquired the chief, " while all your neighbors 
are murdered around you ?" The woman replied that they 
were in favor of the King. " That plea will not avail you to- 
day," replied the warrior. " They have murdered Mr. Wells's 
family, who were as dear to me as my own." " But," conti- 
nued the woman, " there is one Joseph Brant : if he is with the 
Indians, he will save us." "I am Joseph Brant!" was the 
quick response : " but I have not the command, and I know 
not that I can save you ; but I will do what is in my power." 
At the moment of uttering these words, he observed the Senecas 
approaching. " Get into bed quick," he commanded her, " and 
feign yourself sick." The woman obeyed, and when the In- 
dians came up, he put them off with that pretext. Instantly as 
they departed, he rallied a few of his Mohawks by a shrill 
signal, and directed them to paint his mark upon the woman 
and her children. " You are now probably safe," he remarked 
— and departed.* 

Another instance, from the same authority,t will serve 
farther to illustrate the conduct and bearing of this distinguish- 
ed Indian leader on that occasion : After the battle was over, 
he inquired of one of the captives for Captain M'Kean, who 
had retired to the Mohawk Valley with his family. " He sent me 
a challenge once," said the chief; " I have now come to accept 
it. He is a fine soldier thus to retreat !" It was said in reply : 
'' Captain M'Kean would not turn his back upon an enemy 
where there was a probability of success." " I know it," re- 
joined Brant : " he is a brave man and I would have given 



* It is an Indian practice thus to mark, their captives, and the known mark of a 
tribe or chief is a protection from danger at other hands. 
■| Campbell's Annals. 



1778.] CONDUCT OP BRANT AND BUTLER. 381 

" more to take him than any other man in Cherry Valley : but 
" I would not have hurt a hair of his head." 

These were generous sentiments, wortliy of a generous sol- 
dier. Indeed, the whole conduct of the Mohawk chief on that 
melancholy day was any thing rather than characteristic of the 
" monster " Brant has been represented to be. Of the conduct 
of the leader of the expedition, Captain Walter N. Butler, a less 
charitable judgment must be formed — not so much perhaps on 
account of the atrocities committed — because these, too, may 
have been beyond his control, or suddenly perpetrated without 
his knowledge — but because the expedition was entirely one of 
his own undertaking. It was said that Colonel John Butler 
was grieved at the conduct of his son at this place ; remarking, 
on one occasion, in regard to the murder of Mr. Wells and 
family — '• I would have gone miles on my hands and knees 
" to save that family, and why my son did not do it, God 
" only knows." It has also been asserted that the Colonel ac- 
cused Brant of having incited the Indians secretly to commit 
the excesses in question, in order to bring odium upon his son, 
under whose command, as the reader has already been inform- 
ed, he had been placed, strongly in opposition to his own wishes. 
But the Mohawk repelled the charge, and appealed to his for- 
mer conduct, particularly in the case of Springfield, as a vindi- 
cation of his character from the imputation of wanton cruelty. 
On the other hand, it has been laid to the charge of Butler, 
that when, on the night preceding the massacre, some of his 
rangers desired secretly to apprise their friends in the village 
of the storm which was to burst upon them in the morning, he 
peremptorily denied the request— apprehending that if a few 
were ever so cautiously admonished of the approaching danger, 
the tidings would be bruited and the whole village escape.* 

These things may, or they may not, be true. But in either 
case the loyalist Butlers, fatlier and son, should be justly dealt 
by, although they have not been as yet. At least the world 
has never heard what they might possibly have said in their 
own defence — nay, what they did say — in regard to the affairs 
of Wyoming and Cherry Valley ; and candor requires the ad- 
mission, that the narratives of those events which have descend- 
ed to usj were written too soon after their occurrence to war- 

♦ Campbell's Annals. 



382 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

rant a belief in the entire impartiality of the writers. But as 
truth constitutes the great excellence of history, and as a just 
opinion can rarely be formed upon testimony altogether ex- 
•parte after fifty-eight years of silence, it may be allowed to the 
Butlers, though dead, to speak a word for themselves. The 
elder Butler lived at Niagara many years after the close of the 
contest; and, though employed in the British Indian Department, 
his conduct was such, both in public and private life, as to com- 
mand the respect of those who knew him. 

The letter of Captain Butler to General Schuyler, written the 
day after the affair at Cherry Valley, was delivered by the gen- 
tleman who, of all others, felt the greatest interest in facilitating 
the arrangement proposed — Colonel Campbell himself It was 
not answered by General Schuyler, for the reason that he was 
not then in command of the district ; and for the still farther 
reason that, from the circumstances of the case, it took a differ- 
ent direction. On the 1st of January, however, the following 
letter upon the subject was addressed to Captain Butler by 
Brigadier-General James Clinton : — 

General Clinton to Captain Butler. 

" Albany, January 1st, 1779. 
"Sir, 

" A letter, dated the 12th of November last, signed by you, 
and directed to General Schuyler, and which was delivered by 
John Campbell, is come to hand. As its contents related to 
persons who were citizens of the State, with which the military 
do not interfere, the letter was not delivered to Brigadier-Gene- 
ral Hand, who commanded in this department, but transmitted 
to his Excellency Governor Clinton, that his pleasure might 
be known on its contents. He has authorized me to make the 
exchange you request. I am at a loss to know not only where 
to direct to ^'■ou, but also in what part of the country the un- 
happy prisoners taken from this State have been carried. I 
therefore send the bearers, A. B. and C. D. with a flag, to carry 
this letter to any place where they may learn you are, or any 
other officer who can accomplish the exchange in your ab- 
sence. Should the prisoners be in any of the Indian villages, 
and in a condition to be moved, you will please to send them 
to the nearest of our settlements ; or, if you do not choose to 
do that, I will send proper persons to meet and receive them at 



1773.] LETTER OF GENERAL CLTXTON. 383 

any place \t)U may appoint. I am not informed if Mrs. Butler, 
her family, and such others as will be given in exchange for 
those you have in captivity, and those you have suffered to re- 
turn as mentioned in your letter, would choose to move at this 
inclement season. If they do, they shall be sent. If not, they 
may remain until Spring ; and then they may either go to 
Oswego or Canada, at their option. Should the prisoners 
t£iken at Cherry Valley, or any others belonging to the State of 
New- York, be at Magara, it will be impossible for them to re- 
turn until Spring ; and then I request that they may be sent to 
Oswego or Fort Schuyler, and that you will send notice of 
your determination, that provision may be made accordingly. 
Do not flatter yourself, sir, that your father's family have been 
detained on account of any consequence they were supposed to 
be of, or that it is determined they should be exchanged in con- 
sideration of the threat contained in your letter. I should 
hope, for the sake of human nature and the honor of civilized 
nations, that the British officers had exerted themselves in 
restraining the barbarity of the savages. But it is difficult 
even for the most disinterested mind to believe it, as numerous 
instances of barbarity have been perpetrated where savages 
were not present — or, if they were, the British force was not 
sufficient to restrain them, had there been a real desu'e so to do. 
The enormous murders committed at Wyoming and Cherry 
Valley would clearly have justified a retaliation ; and that your 
mother did not fall a sacrifice to the resentment of the survivors 
of those families who were so barbarously massacred, is owing 
to the humane principles which the conduct of their enemies 
evinces a belief that they are utterly strangers to. The flag 
will carry their arms with them, that they may furnish them- 
selves with provisions, should what they set out with be ex- 
pended before they reach any places where they can be supplied. 
As Captain Butler maybe absent, I enclose a copy of this letter 
to General Schuyler. 

'• I am, (fcc, 

'' James Clinton', 
'•' To Captain Walter Butler, or any officer in the British 
service to whom tliis may be handed."* 

* This letter has been copied from the original draft, among the papers of General 
Clinton. 

53 



384 LIFE OP BRANT, [1778. 

This letter reached its destination in due seasoif, and called 
forth the following reply from Captain Butler, written in be- 
half of his father and himself:— 

Captain Butler to General Clinton. 

" Niagara, 18th Feb. 1779. 
"Sir, 

" I have received a letter dated the 1st January last, signed 
by you, in answer to mine of the 12th November. 

"Its contents I communicated to liieutenant Colonel Bolton, the 
commanding ofiicer of this garrison, &c. by whom I am directed 
to acquaint you, that he had no objection that an exchange 
of prisoners, as mentioned in your letter, should take place ; but 
not being fully empowered by his Excellency — General Haldi- 
mand* — to order the same immediately to be put in execution, 
has thought proper I should go down to the Commander-in- 
chief for his direction in the matter. 

" In the mean time, Colonel Butler, as he ever has done on 
every other occasion, will make every effort in his power to 
have all the prisoners, as well those belonging to your troops, 
as the women and children, in captivity among the different In- 
dian nations, collected and sent in to this post to be forwarded 
to Crown Point, should the exchange take place by the way of 
Canada, or to Oswego, if settled there. In either case Colonel 
Bolton desires me to inform you that the prisoners shall receive 
from him what assistance their wants may require, which pri- 
soners have at all times received at this post, 

" The disagreeable situation of your people in the Indian vil- 
lages, as well as ours amongst you, will induce me to make all 
the expedition in my power to Canada, (Gluebec,) in order that 
the exchange may be settled as soon as possible. For the good 
of both, I make no doubt that his Excellency General Haldi- 
mand will acquiesce in the proper exchange. The season of 
the year renders it impossible that it should take place before 
the lOtli or 15th May next. However, I shall write you, by 
the way of Crown Point, General Haldimand's determination, 
and when and where the exchange will be most agreeable to 
hnn to be made, I could wish Mrs, Butler and her family, in- 

* General Sir Frederick Haldimand had previous to this time superseded Sir 
Guy Carleton in the command of the Canadas, 



1778. LETTER OF WALTER N. BUTLER. 385 

eluding Mrs. Scheehan and son, and Mrs. Wall, were permitted 
to go to Canada in the Spring, even should the exchange be 
fixed at Ontario. 

" It is not our present business, sir, to enter into an alterca- 
tion, or to reflect on the conduct of either the British or the 
Continental forces, or on that of each other ; but since you 
have charged (on report, I must suppose) the British officers in 
general with inhumanity, and Colonel Butler and myself in 
particular ; in justice to them, and in vindication of his and 
my own honor and character, I am under the disagreeable ne- 
cessity to declare the charge unjust and void of truth, and which 
can only tend to deceive the world, though a favorite cry of 
the Congress on every occasion, whether in truth or not. 

" We deny any cruelties to have been committed at Wyo- 
ming, either by whites or Indians ; so far to the contrary, that 
not a man, woman, or child was hurt after the capitulation, or 
a woman or child before it, and none taken into captivity. 
Though, should you call it inhumanity the killing men in 
arms in the fields we in that case plead guilty. The inhabit- 
ants killed at Cherry Valley does not lay at my door — my con- 
science acquits. If any are guilty (as accessories) it's yourselves ; 
at least the conduct of some of your officers. First, Colonel 
Hartley, of your forces, sent to the Indians the enclosed, being a 
copy of his letter charging them with crimes they never com- 
mitted, and threatening them and their villages with fire and 
sword and no quarters. The burning of one of their villages, 
then inhabited only by a few families — your friends — who ima- 
gined they might remain in peace and friendship with you, till 
assured a few hours before the arrival of your troops that they 
should not even receive quarters, took to the woods ; and. to 
complete the matter. Colonel Denniston and his people appear- 
ing again in arms with Colonel Hartley, after a solemn capitu- 
lation and engagement not to bear arms during the war, and 
Colonel Denniston not performing a promise to release a num- 
ber of soldiers belonging to Colonel Butler's corps of rangers, 
then prisoners among you, were the reasons assigned by the 
Indians to me, after the destruction of Cherry Valley, for their 
not acting in the same manner as at Wyoming. They added, 
that being charged by their enemies with what they never had 
done, and threatened by them, they had determined to convince 



386 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

you it was not fear which had prevented them from commit- 
ting- the one, and tliat they did not want spirit to put your 
threats against them in force against yourselves. 

" The prisoners sent back by me, or any now in our or the 
Indians' hands, must declare I did every thing in my power to 
prevent the Indians killing the prisoners, or taking women and 
children captive, or in any wise injuring them. Colonel Stacey 
and several other officers of yours, when exchanged, will 
acquit me ; and must further declare, that they have received 
every assistance, before and since their arrival at this post, that 
could be got to relieve their wants. I must, however, beg leave, 
by the bye, to observe, that I experienced no humanity, or even 
common justice, during my imprisonment among you. 

" I enclose you a list of officers and privates whom I should 
be glad were exchanged likewise. The list of the families we 
expect for those as well sent back as others ,in our hands, you 
have likewise enclosed. 

" Colonel Stacey, and several officers and others, your peo- 
ple, are at this post, and have leave to write. 
«' I am, 

" Your very humble serv't., 
" Walter N. Butler, 
" Captain corps of Rangers. 

" Brigadier Gen. Clinton, ) 
of the Continental forces.''^ \ 

This is a straight-forward, manly letter ; and when the im- 
partial reader is weighing the testimony in regard to the trans- 
actions of which it speaks, it certainly deserves consideration. 
It is, moreover, believed to be the first time that the accused 
have been permitted to relate their own side of the case. 
There were, no doubt, bloody outrages committed — probably 
upon both sides — because in such a contest, waged by border- 
ers, many of whom, as has been seen, were previously burning 
with indignation against each other, it is hardly to be expected 
that individual combatants would always contend hand to 
hand with all the courtesy which characterised gallant knights 
in the days of chivalry. In justice to Colonel John Butler, 
moreover, it must be admitted that his conduct toward his pri- 
soners at Niagara, and among the Indians in that country, was 



1778.] MRS. Campbell's captivity. 387 

uniformly characterised by humanity. One ])roof of this dis- 
position was afforded in the case of Colonel Stacia, whose de- 
struction had, for some reason or other, been determined upon 
by Molly Brant, the Indian wife of Sir William Johnson ; who, 
in her widowhood, had been taken from Johnstown to Niagara.* 
The few prisoners from Cherry Valley were marched, by the 
route already indicated, to the Seneca country, Mrs. Camp- 
bell was carried to the Seneca castle at Kanadaseago, where 
she was presented to a family to fill a place made vacant by 
the death of one of its members. Her children, the infant in- 
cluded, were separated from her, and distributed among differ- 
ent Indian families. Being skilful with her needle, and render- 
ing herself useful to those with whom she lived, she was 
treated with indulgence. No restraints were imposed upon her, 
and she was even gratified in her desire to pay a due regard to 
the Sabbath, of which institution tliey were ignorant. Among 
other little civilities, perceiving that she wore caps, an Indian 
presented her one, which was cut and spotted with blood. On 
a closer scrutmy, her feelings were shocked by the discovery, 

* "Molly Brant had, for some cause, a deadly hostility to Colonel Stacia. Re- 
sorting; to the Indian method of dreaming, slie informed Colonel Butler that she 
had dreamed that she had the Yankee's head, and that she and the Indians were 
kicking it about the fort. Colonel Butler ordered a small keg of rum to be painted 
and given to her. This, for a short time, appeased her ; but she dreamed a second 
time that she had the Yankee's head, with his hat on, and that she and the Indians 
were kicking it about the fort for a football. Colonel Butler ordered another keg of 
rum to be given to her, and then told her decidedly that Colonel Stacia should not 
be given up to the Indians. Apart from this circumstance, I know nothing disreput- 
able to Molly Brant. On the contrary, she appears to have had just views of her 
duties. She was careful of the education of her children, some of whom were re- 
spectably married.'' — CmnpheWs Annals. — It may be added, that her descendants 
from Sir William Johnson compose some of the most respectable and intelligent 
families of Upper Canada at this day. The traditions of the Mohawk Valley state, 
that the acquaintance of Sir William with Molly had a rather wild and romantic 
commencement. The story runs, that she was a very sprightly and very beautiful 
Indian girl of about sixteen when he first saw her. It was at a regimental militia 
muster, where Molly was one of a multitude of spectators. One of the field-officers 
coming near her upon a prancing steed, by way of banter she asked permission to 
mount behind him. Not supposing she could perform the exploit, he said she might. 
At the word she leaped upon the crupper with the agility of a gazelle. The horse 
sprang off at full speed, and, clinging to the officer, her blanket flying, and her dark 
tresses streaming in the wind, she flew about the parade-ground swift as an arrow, 
to the infinite merriment of the collected multitude. The Baronet, who was a wit- 
ness of the spectacle, admiring the spirit of the young squaw, and becoming ena- 
moured of her person, took her home as his wife. 



388 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

from the mark, that it had belonged to the lovely companion 
of her youth, the hapless Jane Wells ! 

After returning from a successful expedition, a dance of 
Tha7iksgiving is performed by the Iroquois, which partakes of 
the character of a religious ceremony ;* and Mrs. Campbell had 
the opportunity, soon after her arrival at Kanadeseaga, of wit- 
nessing the festival in honor of their recent victory, of which 
she herself was one of the trophies. A grand council was con- 
voked for this purpose, and preparations were made for the obser- 
vance of the festival, upon a scale corresponding with the im- 
portance of the achievements they were to celebrate. The ar- 
rangements having been completed, the warriors came forth to 
the centre of the village, where the great fire had been kindled, 
horribly disfigured by black and red paint, and commenced 
their savage rites by singing of their own exploits, and those 
of their ancestors, — by degrees working themselves up into a 
tempest of passion ; whooping, yelling, and uttering every hi- 
deous cry : brandishing their knives and war-clubs, and throw- 
ing themselves into the most menacing attitudes, in a manner 
terrific to the unpractised beholder. There was no prisoner 
put to the torture, or attired with the raven death-cap on this 
oocasion; t but the prisoners were paraded, and the scalps borne 
in procession, as would have been the standards taken in civi- 
lized warfare in the celebration of a triumph. For every scalp, 
and for every prisoner taken, the scalp-yell^ or, as it is some- 
times called, the death-halloo, was raised in all its mingled 
tones of triumph and terror.t The scalp-yell is the most ter- 
rific note which an Indian can raise, and from the numbers 
that had fallen during this expedition, it was often repeated. 
The white dog for the sacrifice was then killed ; the offerings 
collected were thrown into the fire ; whereupon the dog was 
laid upon the pile and thoroughly roasted. The flesh was 
then eaten, and the wild festival closed. 

From an account of the ceremonies at one of the festivals, of 



* Heckewelder. 

I The Indians do not often put their prisoners to the torture, or even to death — 
seldom, unless when they have sustained great losses, or when some of their war- 
riors have been murdered. The torture is then resorted to, to glut tlieir vengeance. 
— Heckewelder. 

X Idem. 



1778.] THE DOG SACRIFICE. 389 

which Mrs, Campbell was a spectator during her captivity, she 
must have been present at the great annual feast of thanksgiv- 
ing and remission of sin, which is held by the Senecas and 
other tribes of the confederacy. This is their greatest na- 
tional and most solemn sacrifice. It is invariably held at 
the time of the old moon in January, and is celebrated with 
great parade ; the ceremonies being conducted with the utmost 
order, harmony, and decorum, under the direction of a large 
committee appointed for that purpose. 

The festivities continued nine days, on the first of which 
two white dogs, without spot or blemish, if such could be found, 
were strangled and hung up before the door of the council- 
house, at the height of twenty feet. Not a drop of blood was 
allowed to be shed in compassing their death, as the victims 
would thereby be rendered unfit for the sacrifice. After the 
animals were killed, and before their suspension, their faces 
were painted red, as also the edges of their ears and other 
parts of their bodies. They were then fantastically decorated 
with ribbons and feathers, rendering them as beautiful, in the 
eye of an Indian, as possible. Their fancy dress being com- 
pleted, the dogs were hung up, and the ceremonies of the frolic 
commenced. In the course of the first day every lodge in the 
town was visited by the committee, each member being pro- 
vided with a shovel, with which he removed the ashes and 
coals from every hearth, and scattered them to the winds. In 
this manner the fire of every lodge was extinguished, to be 
re-kindled only by striking virgin sparks from the flint. The 
discharge of a gun at every lodge announced that the work of 
purification, even of fire itself, had been performed ; and with 
this ceremony ended the labors of the first day. 

The ceremonies of the second day were opened with a dance 
by the committee, after which, dressed in bear-skins, the mem- 
bers visited every lodge, with baskets to take up alms — receiving 
whatever was bestowed, but particularly tobacco, and other 
articles used for incense in the sacrifice. Two or three days 
were occupied in receiving these grateful donations, during 
which time the people at the council-house were engaged in 
dances and other recreations. On the fifth day masks were 
added to the bear-skin dresses of the masters of the festival, 
some ludicrous and others frightful, in which they ran about 



390 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

the village, smearing themselves with dirt, and bedaubing all 
such as refused to add to the contents of their baskets of in- 
cense. While thus engaged, the collectors were supposed to 
receive into their own bodies all the sins of their tribe, how- 
ever numerous or heinous, committed within the preceding 
year. 

On the ninth day of the feast, by some magical process, the 
sins of the nation thus collected were transfused from the 
several members of the Committee into one of their number. 
The dogs were then taken down, and the whole weight of the 
nation's iniquity, by another magical process, was transfused into 
their lifeless carcasses. The bodies of the dogs were next laid 
upon an altar of wood, to which fire was applied, and the 
whole consumed — the masters of the sacrifice throwing the 
tobacco and other odoriferous articles into the flames, the in- 
cense ascending from which was supposed to be acceptable to 
the Great Spirit. The sacrifice ended, the people all partook 
of a bountiful feast, the chief article of which was succatash. 
Then followed the war and peace dances, and the smoking of 
the calumet. Thus refreshed, and relieved from the burden of 
sin — at peace with the Great Spirit, and with each other — the 
warriors with their families returned, each to his own house, 
prepared to enter upon the business and the duties of another 
year ; the chiefs, during the festival, having carefully reviewed 
the past, and adjusted their policy for the future.* 

Captain Butler having returned from his visit to General 
Haldimand, with permission for the proposed exchange of pri- 
soners, the Colonel, his father, proceeded to the Seneca castle 

* The reminiscences of Mrs. Campbell scarcely allowed her to give the particulars 
of this great festival in extens.i, although she seems, from the Annals of her grandson, 
to have retained a remembrance of the leading points of the ceremonies. The au- 
thor has supplied the deficiencies of her account from the life of Mrs. Jemison. The 
sacrifice of dogs is, we believe, universal among the North American Indians. How 
long the practice has prevailed cannot well be known. Cotton Mather affirms, 
"that the Indians, in their wars with us, finding a sore inconvenience by our dogs, 
sacrificed a dog to the devil ; after which no English dog would bark at an Indian 
for divers months ensuing." Magnalia, iii. 192. What interpreter the devil had on 
these occasions, does not appear. That he did not understand the Indian tongue, is 
manifest from the same writer :— " Once finding that the Damons, in a possessed 
young woman, understood the Latin, Greek, and Hebreto tongues, my curiosity in- 
duced me to make trial of this Indian language, and the Damons did seem as if they 
did not understand it." — l^ands. 



1778.] MRS. Campbell's captivity. 391 

to negotiate for the release of Mrs. Campbell. The family by 
whom she had been adopted were very reluctant to part with 
her ; but, after the holding of a council, the strong appeals of 
Colonel Butler, who was anxious for the release of his own 
wife and family, prevailed. Mrs. Campbell, however, had been 
pledged to a Genesee family, whither she was shortly to be re- 
moved : and as her liberation could not be completed without the 
consent of that family, Guyanguahta, the aged king of the 
Senecas, who had become her zealous friend, made the journey 
to the Genesee on her behalf He was suc<:essfLil, and Mrs. 
Campbell was removed to Niagara. The aged king, being too 
old to go out upon the war-path, had borne no part in the 
pending hostilities. He seemed little disposed to evil, and on 
parting with the fair captive bade her an affectionate farewell 
in the words following : — '' You are about to return to your 
" home and friends," said the venerable sachem. " I rejoice. 
" You live a great way off, and many journies from here. I am 
" an old man, and do not know that I shall live to the end of 
"the war. If I do, I will come and see you."* Mrs. Camp- 
bell reached Niagara in June, 1779. While residing there, 
among others she had an opportunity of seeing the celebrated 
Catharine Montour, whose name occurs in the preceding pages 
in connexion with the battle of Wyoming. One of her two 
sons, who had signalized themselves at Wyoming, was also in 
the affair at Cherry Valley ; and it was he who made prisoner 
of Mr. Cannon, the father of Mrs. Campbell, after he had been 
wounded by a musket ball. Being a Whig of consideration, 
and also a member of the Committee of Safety, it was deter- 
mined to retain Mr. Cannon in captivity, for the purpose of ex- 
changing him for some one of their own men of like conse- 
quence. But his age and his wound rendered him an incon- 
venient prisoner, and Kate Montour was in a rage with her 
son for not having killed him outright. Yet, notwithstanding 
this exhibition of a savage temper, she was treated with 
marked consideration by the British officers. 

It was not until June of the following year that Mrs. Camp- 
bell was sent from Niagara to Montreal, on her way home. 
While residing at the former post, the Indians having been 

♦ Campbell's Annals. 

54 



392 LIFE OP BRANT. [1778. 

driven into the fort, she was enabled to recover three of her 
children. On her arrival at Montreal, she met with Mrs. But- 
ler and her family, who had been previously released. Here, 
also, and in charge of that lady, Mrs. Campbell found her 
fourth child, a little son who had been torn from her in the 
Cherry Valley massacre. He was dressed in the green uniform 
of Butler's rangers ; but had forgotten the English language — 
speaking nothing but Indian. From Montreal Mrs. Campbell 
was sent to Albany by the way of Lake Champlain,* where she 
was shortly afterward joined by her husband, who had been 
stationed at Fort Schuyler most of the time during her captivity. 
The destruction of Cherry Valley closed the warlike opera- 
lions of both nations, in the North, for that year. A formida- 
ble campaign had indeed been projected early in the season, as 
has been already stated, not only against the hostiles of the Six 
Nations, but likewise against the nations more remote, for 
whom Detroit was the common centre. But the larger half of 
this enterprise had been abandoned after the irruption into 
Wyoming, and the next project contemplated the invasion of 
the Seneca country by way of the Tioga and Chemung rivers. 
In October this branch of the project was likewise deferred, at 
the suggestion of Generals Gates and Schuyler. 

"^ On her way from Montreal, a variety of circumstances and incidents intervened 
to harass Mrs. Campbell and the prisoners returning in her company, and to retard 
their progress. She had been detained four months at Montreal, and these addi- 
tional delays were exceedingly vexatious. Before their departure from Crown 
Point, a rumor had reached the American shores of the lake, from Ticonderoga to 
Skenesborough, that another expedition was about to be undertaken from Canada 
against New-York, and the inhabitants had become not a little alarmed at the 
prospect. It happened that the men in the batteaux containing the prisoners, were 
clad in blanket coats, and some of the women wore red cloaks. A scout had disco- 
vered them on the lake, and taking them for a party of Indians and Tories, gave the 
alarm, and before their arrival, more than a thousand men had collected, under Col. 
Ethan Allen. While stopping at a small fortress, eight miles from Castleton, it was 
announced that a flag was approaching. It was supposed to be sent to demand the 
surrender of the fortress. Col. Herrick, of the militia, struck his sword upon the 
ground with such force that he broke it in pieces, saying it should not be surrendered. 
Col. Allen told the prisoners that they should not again fall into the hands of the 
enemy, and immediately mounting them upon horseback, sent them off toward 
Albany, with an escort of a hundred men. This flag was sent for tlie follov/ing 
reason: — It had been rumored that the inhabitants in that section had said that if 
they were not protected .'rom the incursions of the Indians and Tories, they would 
seek protection elsewhere. It is perhaps needless to add that this flag was sent to 
offer them the protection of Great Britain — a proposition which was of course re- 
fused. — CampbeWs Annals. 



1778.] SIR JOHN Johnson's iron chest. 393 

Meantime, notwithstanding that these enterprises had succes- 
sively fallen to the ground for want of " the sinews of war," 
Congress had been projecting another stupendous campaign, 
comprehending a simultaneous attack upon the whole northern 
range of British possessions, from Cape Breton and Newfound- 
land to Detroit. The French fleet was to co-operate by at- 
tacking the islands and territories at the estuary of the St. 
Lawrence ; while the Americans were to send an army to De- 
troit, another to Niagara, a third to Oswego, and a fourth against 
Montreal by the way of St. Francis. It is needless to add, that 
although Congress had arranged all the details, the moment 
tlie plan was laid before the Commander-in-chief, who had not 
previously been consulted in the premises, it was necessarily 
laid aside. In the first place, the nation had not the means ; 
and in the second, Congress, in arranging matters for this 
splendid undertaking, had forgotten that they were to leave Sir 
Henry Clinton, and all the British forces in New- York, and at 
the South, computed at the least at seventeen thousand men, be- 
hind ! Thus closed the Northern campaigns of 1778. The 
British, Tories and Indians went into winter-quarters, and the 
frontier inhabitants disposed of themselves as best they could. 

Much has been said in the traditions of Tryon County, and 
somewhat, also, in the courts of law, in cases involving titles 
to real estate formerly in the family of Sir William John- 
son, respecting the burial of an iron chest, by his son Sir John, 
previous to his flight to Canada, containing the most valuable of 
his own and his father's papers. Late in the Autumn of the pre- 
sent year, General Haldimand, at the request of Sir John, sent 
a party of between forty and fifty men privately to Johnstown, 
to dig up and carry the chest away. The expedition was suc- 
cessful ; but the chest not being sufficiently tight to prevent 
the influence of dampness from the earth, the papers had be- 
come mouldy, rotten, and illegible, when taken up. The in- 
formation respecting this expedition was derived, in the Spring 
following, from a man named Helmer, who composed one of the 
party, and assisted in disinterring the chest. Helmer had fled to 
Canada with Sir John. While retiring from Johnstown with 
the chest, he injured his ankle ; and by reason of his lameness, 
went back to his father's house, where he remained concealed 
mitil Spring, when he was arrested. He was tried as a spy 



394 LIFE OF BRANT. [1778. 

by a court-martial, at Johnstown, April 15, 1779, and sentenced 
to death— chiefly on his own admissions to the court. A con- 
siderable number of rather summary executions, by the Whigs 
of Tryon County, took place in the course of the contest.* 

The leading military events occurring in other parts of the 
country, during the year 1778, have already been incidentally 
adverted to, with the exception of those that transpired at the 
South. In the month of June, the Earl of Carlisle, Governor 
Johnstone, and William Eden, Esq. who, in conjunction with 
General and Lord Howe, had been appointed Commissioners 
to make another attempt to treat with the Colonies, arrived, 
and sent their instructions to Congress. A letter from the 
President was despatched in reply, rebuking the Commissioners 
for the language indulged by them in regard to the King of 
France, our ally, and again peremptorily refusing to entertain 
a negotiation, except upon the basis of independent Slates, On 
the 6th of August, M. Gerard was publicly received as Minister 
Plenipotentiary of the King of France — to the great joy of the 
American people ; and on the 14th of September, Dr. Benja- 
min Franklin was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the 
Court of Versailles. 

In the course of the Summer, two incursions of British regu- 
lars and American refugees had been made from Florida into 
Georgia. Both expeditions met with such disheartening ob- 
stacles, as to induce their retreat without accomplishing more 
than the destruction of the church, dwelling-houses, and rice- 
fields of Midway. In return for these visitations. General 
Robert Howe led an expedition of about two thousand men, 
mostly mihtia, into Florida. He captured the British posts on 
the St. Mary's river, and was proceeding successfully, when his 
march was arrested by sickness, so fatal to his army as to 
compel a relinquishment of the enterprise. Toward the close 

* This information, in regard to the recovery of the iron chest, is derived from the 
minutes of the court-martial, among the papers of Gen. Clinton. The MS. narra- 
tive of Jacob Sammons, in the author's possession, states that the chest was dug up 
during a night in May, 1778, by Lieut. Crawford, at the head of forty men sent 
from Canada for that purpose. Sammons then held a lease of the Johnson farm 
from the committee of sequestrations. The chest had been buried beneath one of 
the garden walks. Sammons discovered it in the morning, with the fragments of 
papers scattered around it. But as he wrote his narrative long afterward, the proba- 
bility is that the date ^ven on the trial of Helmer is the true one. 



1778.] CLOSE OF THE YEAR. 395 

of the year, the British Commander-in-chief determined to 
strike a signal blow against the South. For this purpose an 
expedition of two thousand men, under the command of Colo- 
nel Campbell, an officer of courage and ability, embarked at 
New- York on the 27th of November, destined against Savan- 
nah. After a passage of three weeks, Colonel Campbell landed 
near the mouth of Savannah river. General Howe, to whom 
the defence of Georgia had been confided, had but six hundred 
regular troops and a few hundred railitiato oppose the invaders. 
This officer had taken a position between the landing and the 
town, where a battle was fought on the 29th of December. 
He was out-numbered, out-generalled, and beaten, with a loss 
of one hundred killed. The town and fort of Savannah, thirty- 
eight officers, four hundred and fifteen privates, twenty-three 
mortars, together with the shipping in the river, and a large 
quantity of ammunition and provisions, fell into the hands of 
the conquerors. It was an easy victory to the enemy, whose 
loss was but seven killed and nineteen wounded. 

From these glimpses of the events of the year 1778, occurring 
elsewhere than in the Indian country, it seems, after the battle 
of Monmouth, to have been a season of comparative inactivity 
on both sides. Still, having repossessed themselves of the strong 
pass of the Highlands immediately after the return of Sir Henry 
Chnton and Commodore Hotham to New- York, toward the close 
of the preceding year, no lack of industry was exhibited on the 
part of the Americans in strengthening and multiplying its de- 
fences, from which neither force nor treachery ever again dis- 
lodged them. The prosecution of those works had been origi- 
nally entrusted to General Putnam ; but the advanced age of 
that patriotic officer had rendered him less active than formerly, 
and he had become unpopular in New-York— mainly from an 
impression that a more energetic commander, stationed, as he 
was, with an army at Fishkill, and apprised of the approach of 
Sir Henry Clinton, would have saved Forts Clinton and Mont- 
gomery. By directions from the Commander-in-chief, therefore, 
the Connecticut veteran had been transferred back to his own 
iState, upon a different service. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Indian siege of Fort Laurens — Successful stratagems — Flight of the pack-horses — 
The fort abandoned — Projected enterprise from Detroit — Gov. Hamilton captured 
at St. Vincent by Col. Clarke — Projects of Brant — Uneasiness in the West of 
New- York — Deliberations of the Oneidas and Onondagas — Brant's projects de- 
feated — Treachery of the Onondagas — Colonel Van Schaick marches to lay waste 
their towns — Instructions of General Clinton — Passage of Wood Creek and 
Oneida Lake — Advance upon the Indian towns — Their destruction — Return of 
the expedition to Fort Schuyler — Mission of the Oneidas to Fort Schuyler in be- 
half of the Onondagas — Speech of Good Peter — Reply of Colonel Van Schaick — 
Irruption of Tories and Indians into the lower Mohawk country — Stone Arabia — 
Defence of his house by Captain Richer — The Indians in Schoharie — General 
Clinton traverses the Mohawk valley — M'Clellan's expedition to Oswegatchie — 
Unsuccessful — Irruption of the Onondagas into Cobleskill — Defeat of the Ame- 
ricans — The settlement destroyed — Murders in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt — 
Irruptions of Tories into Warwarsing — Invasion of Minisink — Battle near the 
Delaware— Massacre of the Orange County militia — Battle with the Shawanese. 

The erection of an advanced post, called Fort Laurens, on 
the Tuscaravva, by General M'Intosh, who was directed to ad- 
vance upon the Indian towns of Sandusky, has been mentioned 
in a preceding chapter. Colonel Gibson, who had been left in 
command of the fort, with a garrison of one hundred and fifty 
men, soon found his position rather uncomfortable, by reason 
of the swarms of Indians hovering about the precincts, who soon 
became so numerous as completely to invest the little fortress. 
The first hostile demonstration of the forest warriors was exe- 
cuted with equal cunning and success. The horses of the 
garrison were allowed to forage for themselves upon the herbage, 
among the dried prairie-grass innnediately in the vicinity of 
the fort — wearing bells, that they might be the more easily 
found if straying too far. It happened one morning in January, 
that the horses had all disappeared, but the bells were heard, 
seemingly at no great distance. They had, in truth, been stolen 
by the Indians, and conveyed away. The bells, however, 
were taken off, and used for another purpose. Availing them- 
selves of the tall prairie-grass, the Indians formed an ambus- 
cade, at the farthest extremity of which they caused the bells to 
jingle as a decoy. The artifice was successful. A party of 
sixteen men was sent in pursuit of the straggling steeds, who 
fell into the snare. Fourteen were killed upon the spot, and 



177'9.] SIEGE OF FORT LAURENS. 397 

the remaining two taken prisoners, one of whom returned at 
the close of the war, and of the other nothing was ever heard.* 
Toward evening of the same day, the whole force of the In- 
dians, painted, and in the full costume of war, presented them- 
selves in full view of the garrison, by marching in single files, 
though at a respectful distance, across the prairie. Their num- 
ber, according to a count from one of the bastions, was eight 
hundred and forty-seven — altogether too great to be encountered 
in the field by so small a garrison. After this display of their 
strength, the Indians took a position upon an elevated piece of 
ground at no great distance from the fort, though on the op- 
posite side of the river. In this situation they remained seve- 
ral weeks, in a state rather of armed neutrality than of active 
hostility. Some of them would frequently approach the fort 
sufiiciently near to hold conversations with those upon the 
walls. They uniformly professed a desire for peace, but pro- 
tested against the encroachments of the white people upon their 
lands — more especially was the erection of a fort so far within 
the territory claimed by them as exclusively their own, a cause 
of complaint — nay, of admitted exasperation. There was with 
the Americans in the fort, an aged friendly Indian named 
John Thompson, who seemed to be in equal favor with both 
parties, visiting the Indian encampment at pleasure, and coming 
and going as he chose. They informed Thompson that they 
deplored the continuance of hostilities, and finally sent word 
by him to Colonel Gibson, that they were desirous of peace, and 
if he would present them with a barrel of flour, they would 
send in their proposals the next day. The flour was sent, but 
the Indians, instead of fulfilling their part of the stipulation, 
withdrew^ and entirely disappeared. They had, indeed, con- 
tinued the siege as long as they could obtain subsistence, and 
raised it only because of the lack of supplies. Still, as the be- 
leaguerment was begun in stratagem, so was it ended. Colo- 

• The Rev. Mr. Doddridge, whose little work is the authority for all the facta re- 
lative to Fort Laurens, states that Captain, afterward General Briggs, of Virginia, 
being the officer of the day, was exceedingly desirous of heading the party sent to 
bring in the horses, but was refused permission by Colonel Gibson, who remarked, 
that when he had occasion to send out a captain's command, he should be thankful 
for his services, but until then, he must be content to discharge his duties within the 
fort. " On what trifling circumstances," adds the good minister, "do life and death 
eometimes depend !" 



398 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779. 

nel Gibson's provisions were also running short, and as he 
supposed the Indians had entirely gone oif, he directed Colonel 
Clark, of the Pennsylvania line, with a detachment of fifteen 
men, to escort the invalids of the garrison, amounting to ten or 
a dozen men, back to Fort M'Intosh. But the Indians had left 
a strong party of observation lurking in the neighborhood of 
the fort ; and the escort had proceeded only two miles before it 
was fallen upon, and the whole immber killed with the excep- 
tion of four — one of whom, a captain, escaped back to the fort. 
The bodies of the slain were interred by the garrison, on the 
same day, with the honors of war. A party was likewise sent 
out to collect the remains of the fourteen who had first fallen 
by the ambuscade, and bury them ; which service was per- 
formed. It was found, however, that the wolves had mostly 
devoured their flesh, and by setting traps upon the new-made 
grave, some of those ravenous beasts were caught and shot on 
the following morning. 

The situation of the garrison was now becoming deplorable. 
For two weeks the men had been reduced to half a pound of 
sour flour, and a like quantity of offensive meat, per diem ; and 
for a week longer they were compelled to subsist only upon raw 
hides, and such roots as they could find in the circumjacent 
woods and prairies, when General M'Intosh most opportunely 
arrived to their relief, with supplies, and a reinforcement of 
seven hundred men. But still they came near being imme- 
diately reduced to short allowance again, by an untoward ac- 
cident causing the loss of a great portion of their fresh supplies. 
These supplies were transported through the wilderness upon 
pack-horses. The garrison, overjoyed at the arrival of succors, 
on their approach to within about a hundred yards of the fort 
manned the parapets and fired a salute of musketry. But the 
horses must have been young in the service. Affrighted at 
the detonation of the guns, they began to rear and plunge, and 
broke from their guides. The example was contagious, and in 
a moment more, the whole cavalcade of pack-horses were 
bounding into the woods at full gallop, dashing their burdens 
to the ground, and scattering them over many a rood in all di- 
rections — the greater portion of which could never be recover- 
ed. But there was yet enough of provisions saved to cause the 
mingling of evil with the good. Very incautiously, the officers 



1779.] EVACUATION OF FORT LAURENS. 399 

dealt out two days' rations per man, the whole of which was 
devoured by the famishing soldiers, to the imminent hazard of 
the lives of all, and resulting in the severe sickness of many. 
Leaving the fort again, General M'Intosh assigned the command 
to Major Vernon, who remained upon the station several 
months. He, in turn, was left to endure the horrors of famine, 
until longer to endure was death ; whereupon the fort was 
evacuated and the position abandoned — its occupation and 
maintenance, at the cost of great fatigue and suffering, and the 
expense of many lives, having been of not the least service to the 
country. 

Originally it had been the purpose of General M'Intosh to 
penetrate through the wilderness to Lake Erie, and thence 
make a descent upon Detroit ; and by a letter from the Com- 
mander-in-chief to a Committee of Congress appointed to con- 
fer with him upon military subjects, it seems to have been his 
opinion that M'Intosh had made the best dispositions for the 
enterprise which the circumstances of the case allowed. But 
he was disappointed in his expectations of men, provisions, and 
stores. This seems to have been one of those undertakings by 
order of Congress, without consultation with the Commander- 
in-chief, which had previously annoyed him not a httle. Still, 
it received his approbation, the more readily because its design 
was in coincidence with his own views on the subject of Indian 
warfare — his uniform opinion being, that the cheapest and most 
effectual method of opposing them, was to carry the war into 
their own country. By their incursions into the frontier set- 
tlements, so long as the Americans were content to act on the 
defensive, the Indians had little to lose and every thing to gain ; 
whereas the direct reverse would be the consequence of an 
offensive war against them.* 

But, notwithstanding the untoward result of General M'ln- 
tosh's expedition, the Indian branch of the service opened aus- 
piciously the present year elsewhere, and first in a region yet 
deeper in the west than Fort Laurens. Colonel Hamilton, the 
British Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit — a rough, bad-tempered, 
and cruel officer, who had signalised himself by the exertion of 
a malignant influence over the Indians — and had provoked 

♦ Letter of Washington to the Committee of Congress, Jan. 12, 1779. 
55 



400 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779. 

them to take up the hatchet ajrainst the Americans by every 
possible means — instigating them to deeds of blood by large 
rewards — had projected a powerful Indian expedition against 
the Virginia frontier, to be executed early in the Spring.* 
With this design, at the close of the preceding Autumn, Hamil- 
ton left Detroit, and took post at St. Vincents, on the Wabash, 
in order to act earlier and more efficiently immediately after 
the breaking up of Winter, But his purpose was most happily 
defeated by a blow from a direction which he did not anticipate. 
Colonel Clarke, who was yet with a small force in command of 
Kaskaskias, having learned, in February, that Hamilton had 
weakened himself by despatching many of his Indians in dif- 
ferent directions to annoy the frontiers of the States, formed the 
bold resolution of attacking him in his quarters. After a diffi- 
cult movement by land and water, at the head of one hundred 
and thirty men, Clarke suddenly arrived before St. Vincents. 
The town at once submitted ; and on the following day. Colo- 
nel Hamilton and the garrison surrendered themselves prison- 
ers of war. It was the good fortune of Colonel Clarke also to 
intercept and capture a valuable convoy of provisions and 
stores, coming to St. Vincents from Detroit. Hamilton was 
transferred to Virginia, where the Council of the Commonwealth 
instituted an inquiry into the inhuman conduct imputed to him, 
and his confinement in irons, on a diet of bread and water, 
was recommended.t The plans of the enemy were not a little 
disconcerted by this small, though brilliant affair ; and peace 
with several of the Indian tribes in that direction was the im- 
mediate consequence. 

In the mean time, and before this disaster befel the Detroit 
expedition, some bold winter emprise was projected by Joseph 
Brant, which — in consequence, probably, of the capture of 
Hamilton — miscarried, or rather was not attempted to be put 
in execution. It does not appear what the measure was upon 
which Brant was meditating ; but on the 1st of January, Colo- 
lonel Van Dyck, then in command of Fort Schuyler, wrote to 

* Should any one doubt the propriety of speaking thus harshly in history of this 
Colonel Hamilton, let him read the " Narrative of the capture and treatment of 
John Dodge, by Uie British at Detroit," published in Almon's Remembrancer, vol. 
VI. pp. 73—81, 

t Ramsay. 



1779.] AFFAIRS AMONG THE SIX NATIONS. 401 

General Clinton, '' that the Oneidas- had just received informa- 
" tion that the enemy seemed determined to strike some capital 
" blow during the winter." In addition to an application from 
the Quiquoga Indians to join them in the expedition, Colonel 
Van Dyck stated that " one of the principal Oneida warriors 
" had received a private letter from Joseph Brant, inviting him 
'• to join the Six Nations with his adherents, that he might 
•' avoid the danger to which his tribe was exposed."* 

There is reason to suppose that a part of Brant's project was 
to strike a blow upon the Oneidas themselves, unless they could 
be seduced from their neutrality — amounting, as it did, almost 
to an alliance with the United States.t But this faithful tribe 
were neither to be coaxed nor driven from the stand they had 
maintained since the beginning of the controversy. On the 
16th and I7th of January, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras held a 
council, to deliberate upon the invitations of the Q,uiquogas 
and Captain Brant, the result of which they communicated to 
Colonel Van Dyck on the following day. They informed that 
efficient officer, that after giving permission to any of their 
tribe, %vho desired to join the enemy, to withdraw, there was a 
unanimous resolution of the council " to stand by each other in 
" defence of their lives and liberty, against any enemy that 
" might be disposed to attack them ;" and to the late message of 
the Q,uiquogas. they unanimously agreed to return the follow- 
ing answer, viz : " That as they had ever behaved themselves 
" in a quiet, and peaceable manner toward the confederacy, they 
" could not conceive that their conduct could be considered 
" reprehensible by them. They likewise put them in mind of 
'•' their long and unwearied efforts to prevent the Six Nations 
" involving themselves in the calamities of war, and that they 
" had exerted themselves so far as by their influence to relieve, 

* Papers of General James Clinton. 

t On the 9lh of April, 1779, Congress passed a resolution granting the commis- 
sion of Captain to four of the Oneida and Tuscarora Indians, and eight commissions of 
Lieutenants. Subsequently, the then principal Oneida chief, Louis Atayataroughta, 
was commissioned a Lieutenant-colonel. Louis, or "Colonel Louis" as he was 
afterward called, was the representative of three races, being part Indian, part negro, 
and part white man. A few other commissions were issued to those Indians in the 
course of the war. The greater number served faithfully. Some were killed, and 
three of the lieutenants deserted to the enemy, and exchanged their commissions for 
tlie same rank in the British service. 



402 LIFE OP BRANT. [1779. 

'■ from close confinement, some of their people whom the for- 
" tune of war had put into the hands of their enemies. But 
" that they now utterly despaired of ever being able to eifect a 
" reconciliation between the Confederacy and the United States ; 
" and that the only hope they had of them was, that some of 
" them would, in time, abandon the cause thus imprudently es- 
" poused ; that they would never violate their alliance with the 
" American States ; and though they would not be the aggressors, 
" or wantonly provoke any tribe to war, yet that they should 
" henceforth be on their guard against any enemy whatever." 

Seven of the principal Onondaga chiefs, who had hitherto 
been considered as neutrals, being at the time in Oneida, on 
their way to Fort Schuyler, it was determined to call them in 
to the council, and acquaint them with the above resolution. It 
was accordingly done by the transmission of a large black belt 
of wampum. The Onondagas replied, " That they were very 
" glad to hear the resolution which their children, the Oneidas 
" and Tuscaroras, had made. They observed, that as the 
" Oneidas, who were the head of the confederacy, had com- 
" mitted the council-fire and tree of peace to their care, with a 
" charge to guard them against the approach of any thing which 
" might injure either, or tend to interrupt the harmony of the 
" confederacy, they had therefore invariably pursued the path 
" of peace ; and though they had been desired by the opposite 
" party of their tribe to extinguish the council-fire, yet they 
" had refused, nor could they consistently do it while the 
" Oneidas retained any hopes of accommodating matters in the 
" Six Nations. But as the heads of the confederacy had de- 
*' clared themselves so fully upon that subject, they had now let 
<• go their hold of peace, extinguished the ccuncil-fire, and 
" sunk the tree into the earth ; and were determined to join 
" their children, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, to oppose any in- 
«' vader." 

The Onondagas farther engaged, upon their return home, to 
effect a final separation in their tribe, and insist that every one 
should declare for one side or the other. The conduct of most 
of the Onondagas had been from the first equivocal — oflen 
openly hostile. But those present at this council manifested a 
better feeling, and joined in the request of the Oneidas for 
troops to aid in their protection. The Oneidas, on this occa- 



1779.] DESIGNS AGAINST THE MOHAWK VALLEY. 403 

sion, placed great confidence in the professions of their Onon- 
daga brethren, and were in high spirits at the result of the 
council.* 

There was other evidence, not only of the intention of Thay- 
endanegea to make a powerful Indian descent upon the Mo- 
hawk during this winter, but of the supposed fidelity of these 
Onondagas to the United Sates. About the middle of Fe- 
bruary, General Clinton, having through various channels and 
by several expresses, received information at Albany of such a 
design, marched to Schenectady with Colonel Van Schaick's 
regiment, ordering the latter as far up the Mohawk as Caugh- 
nawaga, there to await the event. On the 26tli of February, 
Captain Copp, of Fort Van Dyck,t wrote to Captain Graham, 
then in charge of Fort Schuyler, announcing that two of the 
Oneida messengers, of distinguished (Indian) families, had just 
returned from Niagara, where they had obtained positive evi- 
dence of Brant's purpose. The Mohawk chief had received 
expresses, announcing that the Shawanese and Delawares were 
to strike a simultaneous blow upon the frontier of Virginia ;t 
and Brant himself was to lead the main expedition direct to the 
Mohawk, while another diversion was to be created by sending 
a smaller force round by the Unadilla, to fall upon the settle- 
ments of Schoharie. In regard to the fidelity of the Onondagas, 
it was stated by the Oneida chiefs that fourteen of that nation 
had been despatched to Niagara, by the chiefs of the tribe, to 
pursuade their brethren, who had taken up the hatchet with the 
Mohawks, to return. But these fourteen messengers had not 
been permitted to come back themselves, and the Onondagas 
were apprehensive that they and all their people at Niagara 
had been made prisoners. The uneasiness in Tryon County 
was greatly increased under these circumstances. Major Jelles 
Fonda wrote to General Clinton, stating that there were yet 
three hundred Tory families in the northern part of that settle- 
ment, affording aid and comfort to the hostile refugees, who 
kept up a continual intercourse with them, across through the 
woods, or by liake Champlain, to Canada. For greater secu- 
rity, therefore, he urged permission to build a strong block- 

* General Clinton's correspondence— MS. letter of Colonel Van Dyck. 

t In the Oneida or Onondaga country. 

X The project of Colonel Hamilton, frustrated by his capture. ■''' < 



404 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779. 

house, and station fifty rangers within it, on the Sacondaga 
river, directly north of Johnstown. 

Captain Brant, however, either abandoned or deferred the 
threatened invasion, probably for the reason already indicated 
— the capture of Colonel Hamilton. The winter consequently 
passed away without any serious disturbance in that region. 
But, notwithstanding all the fair professions of the Onondagas, 
their treachery had become alike so manifest and so injurious, 
as to render it expedient, immediately on the opening of the 
Spring, to make them a signal example to the rest of their red 
brethren. Accordingly, early in April an expedition was de- 
tailed upon this service by General Clinton, with the approba- 
tion of the Commander-in-chief, consisting of detachments from 
the regiments of Colonels Van Schaick and Gansevoort, to the 
number of five hundred men, under the conduct of the former. 
The troops were moved as expeditiously as possible to Fort 
Schuyler, and thirty batteaux were simultaneously ordered thither 
to transport them down Wood Creek, and through the Oneida 
Lake to Three Rivers. Colonel Van Schaick's instructions 
were very full and explicit upon every point. The design was 
to proceed as rapidly and cautiously as possible, in order to take 
the Indians by surprise ; for which purpose, on the morning of 
the departure of the expedition, it was to be announced that its 
destination was against Oswego. Colonel Van Schaick was di- 
rected to burn and utterly destroy the village and castle of the 
Onondagas, together with all their cattle and effects ; but he 
was strictly enjoined to make as many prisoners as possible, 
and put none to death who could be taken alive. The follovv- 
ing passage occurs in the instructions of General Clinton on 
this occasion, which is worthy of preservation : — " Bad as the 
" savages are, they never violate the chastity of any women, 
" their prisoners. Although I have very little apprehension 
" that any of the soldiers will so far forget their character as to 
" attempt such a crime on the Indian women who may fall 
" into their hands, yet it will be well to take measures to pre- 
" vent such a stain upon our army."* This injunction speaks 
volumes in praise of the soldier who wrote it. Colonel Van 
Schaick was farther enjoined to dissuade any of our Indian 

* MS. instructions of General Clinton. 



1779.] DESTRUCTION OF ONONDAGA. 405 

allies from accompanying him ; and Lieutenant-Colonel Wil- 
lett and Major Cochran were detailed to serve in the ex- 
pedition. 

The orders to Colonel Van Schaick were issued on the 9th 
of April, and so rapidly were the necessary arrangements expe- 
dited, that every thing was in readiness for the departure from 
Fort Schuyler on the 18th. During the evening of that day, 
the batteaux, with the necessary stores, were silently removed 
across the carrying-place to Wood Creek, and all tb.ings there 
placed in order. The troops were early in motion on the morning 
of the 19th, and a thick mist contributed essentially in covering 
the movement, had there been any spies lurking about to make 
observation. The number of men embarked, including officers, 
was five hundred and fifty-eight. Their progress to the Oneida 
Lake was considerably impeded, by reason of trees which had 
follen across the creek ; so that much of the first day's journey 
was performed by the troops on foot. The passage of the 
Oneida Lake was effected as expeditiously as possible ; and 
although they encountered a strong and excessively disagreea- 
ble head-wind, they nevertheless reached the Onondaga Land- 
ing, opposite to old Fort Brewington, with the whole flotilla, by 
three o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th. Leaving a suitable 
guard with the boats, the little army pushed immediately for- 
ward, and, despite the obstacles in traversing a deep-tangled 
forest, the soil resembling a morass, they marched nine miles 
without halting. The night was dark, wet, and cold ; but 
knowing well the wariness of the enemy and the celerity of 
their movements, and how frequently they were prepared to 
strike when least expected, the troops were necessarily pre- 
cluded from kindling fires, and obliged to sleep on their arms. 
The march was resumed very early on the morning of the 
21st, and in order to save time, they were obliged to ford an 
arm of the Onondaga Lake, about two hundred yards wide 
and four feet in depth. Arriving at the estuary of Onondaga 
Creek, at the head of the lake, Captain Graham, commanding 
the advance guard, captured one of the warriors of the tribe ; 
and although they were now within two or three miles of the 
village and castle, this was the first Indian seen, or who was 
apprised of the approach of the expedition. Captain Graham 
was now directed again to advance with all possible rapidity 



406 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779. 

and caution, for the purpose of surrounding the lower castle, 
while the residue of the main force was divided into small de- 
tachments, and hurried forward for the purpose of falling upon 
the other towns, in such rapid succession as, if possible, to take 
all the villages by surprise. This chain of villages extended 
through the valley of the Onondaga Creek for the distance of 
ten miles. The tribe had once been among the most powerful 
of the Aganuschioni, or confederated people of the Five Na- 
tions. Situated in the centre of the confederacy, to the Onon- 
dagas, time immemorial, had been committed the keeping of 
the great council-fire. This fire had been extinguished in 
1692 by Count Frontenac, who then came against it at the head 
of a powerful expedition from Montreal, and utterly destroyed 
the village. It had again been put out in the Spring of 1777, 
and was now doomed to a third extinction, equally summary 
and complete with the former. But although the expedition of 
Colonel Van Schaick had been thus far, and was throughout, 
admirably conducted, yet the surprise was not as complete as 
had been intended. While Captain Graham's company was 
securing a few prisoners taken in the outskirts of the village, 
near the principal castle, means were found by the wily ad- 
versary to give the alarm in advance. The tidings, of course, 
flew from village to village with greater rapidity than the se- 
veral detachments of troops could equal, and the Indians scat- 
tered off to the woods in all directions. But such was the 
precipitancy of their flight, that they carried nothing with them 
— ^not even their arms. Still, thirty-three of their number were 
taken prisoners, and twelve killed. Three villages, consisting 
of about fifty houses, were burnt to the ground ; and a large 
quantity of provisions, consisting chiefly of beans and corn, de- 
stroyed. Nearly one hundred muskets were taken among the 
booty, and several rifles, together with a considerable quantity 
of ammunition. Their swivel at the council-house was rendered 
useless, and their catde and horses were destroyed. The work of 
destruction having been completed, the detachment immediately 
commenced its return to Fort Schuyler. It was fired upon in 
the afternoon by a small party of Indians in the woods, but 
without injury, while one of the enemy fell by the return 
fire. On Saturday, the 24th, the troops were all back again 
at Fort Schuyler, having performed a journey, going and re- 



1779.] DESTRUCTION OF ONONDAGA. 407 

turning, of one hundred and eighty miles, and efTectcd their 
object without the loss of a single man.* In the letter enclos- 
ing his official report to General Clinton, Colonel Van Schaick 
spoke in the highest terms of the good conduct of the officers 
and soldiers engaged in this expedition ; and bestowed the 
warmest encomiums upon Colonel Willett and Major Cochran, 
for the efficient assistance received from them. 

At this distance of time, from the very imperfect data afford- 
ed by written history, this expedition against the Onondagas 
appears like a harsh, ' if not an unnecessary measure. But, 
notwithstanding the professions of this nation, those in the di- 
rection of public affairs at that period unquestionably felt its 
chastisement to be a work of stern necessity. General Schuy- 
ler had Avi'itten that unless some exemplary blow should be in- 
flicted upon the hostiles of the Six Nations, Schenectady would 
shortly become the boundary of the American settlements in that 
direction. The enterprise had, moreover, the sanction of the 
Commander-in-chief ; while nothing could be more humane, in 
regard to a warlike expedition, than the instructions of General 
Clinton. But no small degree of uneasiness was ne^'ertheless 
felt by the Oneidas, at the swift destruction which had thus 
overtaken the principal to\vn of their next-door neighbors ; and 
it was not long after the return of Colonel Van Schaick to Fort 
Schuyler, before he was visited by a formal delegation from that 
nation. At the head of the embassage was Skenandoah, an 
important sachem of the tribe, accompanied by Good Peter, the 
orator, and Mr. Deane, the interpreter. The object of this 
mission was an inquiry into the causes of the movement against 
the Onondagas, with whom, as has been previously remarked, 
the Oneidas were closely connected by intermarriages. Hav- 
ing been introduced. Good Peter spoke as follows : — 

" Brother : You see before you some of your friends, the 
Oneidas ; they come to see you. 

" The engagements that have been entered into between us 
and our brothers, the Americans, are well known to you. 

" We were much surprised, a few days ago, by the news 
which a vvarrior brought to our Castle with a war-shout, in- 
forming us that our friends, the Onondagas, were destroyed. 

* Colonel Van Schaick 's report — papers of General Clinton. 

56 



408 LIFE OV BRANT. [1779. 

" We were desirous to see you on this occasion, as they 
think you might have been mistaken in destroying that part of 
the tribe. 

" We suppose you cannot answer us upon this subject, as 
the matter was agreed upon below. But perhaps you may 
know something of this matter. 

" When we heard of this account, we sent back word to our 
friends remaining among them, telhng them not to be pale- 
hearted because some of them were destroyed, but to keep up 
with their former engagements. 

" We sent off some of our people to Canasaraga, to invite 
them to come to our village ; but they returned an answer that 
they had sent some of their own runners to Onondaga, to learn 
the particulars, and they waited for their return. 

"Our people brought for answer, that they were much 
obliged to their children, the Oneidas, for attending to them in 
their distresses, and they would be glad if they would speak 
smoothly to their brethren, the Americans, to know whether 
all this was done by design, or by mistake. 

" If it was a mistake, say they, we hope to see our brethren 
the prisoners — if by design, we still will keep our engagements 
with you, and no^ join the King's party. But if our brethren, 
the Americans, mean to destroy us also, we will not fly — we 
will wait here and receive our death. 

" Brother : This was the answer of the Onondagas. As for 
us, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, you know our sentiments. 
We have supposed we know yours. 

" The Commissioners promised us that when they found any 
thing wrong, they would tell us and make it right. 

'■Brother: If we have done anything wrong, we shall 
now be glad if you would now tell us so."* 

At the end of each sentence, the attending sachems uttered 
the usual sound of approbation, and having concluded, Good 
Peter resumed his seat. The address was that of a diploma- 
tist ; and it was supposed probable that the Onondagas were 
themselves at the bottom of the embassay, with a view of ob- 
taining information by which to regulate their future conduct. 



* The Sexagenary, a collection of revolutionary papers connected with the border 
wars, edited by S. De Witt Bloodgood, Esq. 



1779.] INTERCESSION OF THE ONEIDAS. 409 

Equally adroit was the reply of Colonel Van Schaick, given in 
the following terms : — 

" I am glad to see my friends, the Oneidas and Tuscaroras. 
I perfectly remember the engagements the Five Nations entered 
into four years ago, and that they promised to preserve a strict 
and honorable neutrality during the present war, which was 
all we asked them to do for us. 

" But I likewise know that all of them, except our brethren 
the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, broke their engagements, and flung 
away the chain of friendship. But the Onondagas have been 
great murderers ; we have found the scalps of our brothers at 
their Castle. 

" They were cut off, not by mistake, but by design — I was 
ordered to do it — and it is done. 

'• As for the other matters of which you speak, I recommend 
a deputation to the Commissioners at Albany. I am not ap- 
pointed to treat with you on those subjects. 

" I am a warrior. My duty is to obey the orders which they 
send me." 

No farther explanations appear to have been interchanged ; 
and the Oneidas were perhaps the more readily pacified, inas- 
much as they were really friendly to the Americans, while at the 
same time they must have been acquainted with the conduct of 
the Onondagas, which had justly incurred the chastisement. 
Scalping ])arties were always hovering about the unprotected 
borders, especially in the neighborhood of Fort Schuyler ; and 
the Indians of none of the tribes were more frequently dis- 
covered belonging to these parties, than of that nation. 

It is, perhaps, a coincidence worth noting, that on the very 
day on which Colonel Van Schaick departed from Fort Schuy- 
ler for Onondaga, the lower section of the Mohawk Valley was 
thrown into alarm by the sudden appearance of an Indian force 
simultaneously on both sides of the river, in the vicinity of Pa- 
latine. On the South side a party rushed down upon the set- 
tlement, took three prisoners, together with several horses, and 
drove the inhabitants into Fort Plank. At the very same hour 
another division of the savages made a descent upon the back 
part of Stone- Arabia, where, in the onset, they burnt two houses 
and murdered one man. The next house in their course be- 
longed to Captain Richer. The occupants were Richer, his 



410 LIFE OF BRANT. [1770. 

wife, and two sons, and an old man. The Captain and his 
two boys being armed, on the near approach of the Indians 
gave them a warm reception. A sharp action ensued. The 
old man, being unarmed, was killed ; as also was one of the 
brave boys, a lad seventeen years of age. Captain Richer was 
severely wounded and his arm was broken ; his other son was 
also wounded in the elbow, and his wife in one of her legs. 
And yet, notwithstanding that the whole garrison was either 
killed or wounded, the Indians retreated on the loss of two of 
their number. 

On the same day a party of Senecas appeared in Schoharie, 
made prisoners of Mr. Lawyer and Mr. Cowley, and plundered 
their houses. The panic was again general ; the people flying 
to the forts for safety, and the Committee of Palatine writing im- 
mediately to General Clinton, at Albany, for assistance. The 
General was an officer of great activity, and so rapidly did he 
move in cases of alarm, that he traversed the Mohawk Valley with 
Colonel Gansevoort's regiment and the Schenectady militia, and 
was back at Albany again on the 28th. The Indians who ap- 
peared on the south side were from the West — those on the 
north side were Mohawks from Canada. General Clinton, in 
his despatches to the Governor, his brother, expressed an opi- 
nion, that but for his timely movement on that occasion, the 
enemy would have driven the settlements all in upon Schenec- 
tady.* 

On the 30th of April, Lieutenants M'Clcllan and Harden- 
burgh returned to Fort Schuyler from an unsuccessful expe- 
dition at the head of a body of Indians, against the small Bri- 
tish garrison at Oswegatchic, It was their intention to take 
the fort by surprise ; but, falling in prematurely with some 
straggling Indians, several shots were imprudently exchanged, 
by reason of which their approach became known to the gar- 
rison. They then attempted by stratagem to draw the enemy 
from the fort, and partly succeeded, but could not induce them 
to venture far enough from their works to cut them off ; and 
on approaching the fort themselves, the assailants were so 
warmly received by cannister and grape, as to be compelled to 
retreat without unnecessary delay. The only service performed 

* MS. letter of Jacob R. Cork and Peter Wagner to General Clinton, and Geno 
ral Clinton's letter to the Governor. 



1779.] VENGEANCE OF THE ONONDAGAS. 411 

was to send a Caughnawaga Indian into Canada with a letter, in 
French, by " a French General," probably the Marquis de Lafay- 
ette, addressed to the Canadians, and written in the preceding 
Autumn.* This expedition was despatched from Fort Schuyler 
on the day before Colonel Van Schaick moved upon Onondaga ; 
and from a letter addressed by General Clinton, six weeks after- 
ward, to General Sullivan, there is reason to believe one object 
was to get clear of the Oneida Indians then in the fort, until 
Colonel Van Schaick should have proceeded so far upon his ex- 
pedition, that they or their people would not be able to give the 
Onondagas notice of his approach. All the Indians still remain- 
ing in Fort Schuyler on the ISth, were detained expressly for 
that object of precaution. General Clinton conceded their useful- 
ness as scouts and spies upon the British forces ; but, he observed, 
" their attachment to one another is too strong to admit of their 
" being of any service when employed against their fellows." f 
This testimony is certainly not discreditable to the Indian cha- 
racter as such. 

But if, as has been seen, the Oneidas were disposed to send 
a deputation to make pacific inquiries at Fort Schuyler, in re- 
gard to Colonel Van Schaick's attack upon their neighbors, 
the descendants of Garanguli and Sadakenaghtiet were not 
themselves willing to pass the matter over thus lightly. Fired 
with indignation at the destruction of their villages and castle, 
and the putting out of the great council-fire which they had so 
long kept burning at their national altar, they resolved upon 
summary vengeance. To this end, three hundred of their war- 
riors were speedily upon the war-path, bending their steps to 
the valley of the Schoharie-kill. The settlement of Cobleskill,§ 
which had sufiercd so severely the preceding year, situated 
about ten miles west of the Schoharie-kill, and yet comprising 
nineteen German families, was the first object of attack. But 
they were prevented from taking the place by surprise, in conse- 
quence of two of their number straggling a considerable distance 
in advance of the main body, who were discovered by a scout of 

* M'Clellan's letter to General Clinton. 

t Letter of Gen. Clinton to Gen. Sullivan. 

I Two illustrious Onondaga warriors and orators of the preceding century. Vide 
Colden's Canada. 

§ Usually thus written ; but the old inhabitants say it should be Cobuskill. — 
Spafford. 



412 LIFE OP BRANT. [1779. 

two of the Cobleskill militia. One of the Indians was shot, 
and the other fled ; and the scouts hastened home to give the 
alarm. Intelligence of the enemy's approach was immediately- 
despatched to Schoharie, with a request for assistance. A 
captain of the Continental army was thereupon sent to Cobles- 
kill with a detachment of regular troops. On the following 
morning a party of Indians sallied out of the woods, and after 
approaching the settlement, suddenly returned. They were 
pursued by a small detachment of troops to the edge of the 
forest, where their reception was so sharp as to compel a re- 
treat. The Captain himself immediately marched to the scene 
of action with the whole of his little band, together with fifteen 
volunteers of the militia. The Indians receded before the 
whites for a time, and continued the deception by showing 
themselves at first in small numbers on the skirt of the forest, 
until they had accomplished the identical purpose they had in 
view. The Captain and his men pursued, without any know- 
ledge of the disparity of numbers they had to encounter, until 
the Indians had drawn them sufficiently within their toils to 
make a stand. Their numbers now multiplied rapidly, and 
the battle became animated. The Captain fell wounded, and 
was soon afterward killed. His men, panic-stricken, instantly 
fled ; but in the twinkling of an eye, a cloud of several hun- 
dred savages, until then in concealment, rose upon all sides of 
them, pouring in a deadly shower of rifle balls, and making the 
forest ring with their appalling yells. The inhabitants of the 
settlement, on perceiving the disaster which had befallen the 
troops, fled in the direction of Schoharie with a portion of the 
fugitive soldiers. Their flight was facilitated, or rather they 
were prevented from being overtaken, by seven of the Captain's 
brave fellows, who took possession of a deserted house and 
made a resolute defence. From the windows of their castle 
they fired briskly upon the Indians, and bringing them to a 
pause, detained them until the inhabitants had made good their 
flight to Schoharie. Unable to drive the soldiers from the 
house, the Indians at length applied the brand, and the brave 
fellows were burnt to death within its walls. The whole set- 
tlement was then plundered and burnt by the Indians. But 
they did not proceed farther toward Schoharie. The loss of 
the whites was twenty-two killed and two taken prisoners. 



1779.] INDIAN OUTRAGES NEAR FORT PITT. 413 

The bodies of the slain were found the next day, sadly mutilat- 
ed ; and in the hand of one of them the Indians had placed a 
roll of Continental bills — a severe satire upon the description of 
money for which the soldiers were serving. The great fact, 
however, that it was the cause, and not the pay, which kept 
the Americans in the field, could scarcely be appreciated by 
the forest warriors. They were led in this battle by a Tory, 
who was subsequently killed by the celebrated Murphy.* 
Their loss was severe, but to what extent was not known. 
Thus was amply avenged the destruction of Onondaga. 

During the month of April, the inhabitants of Monongalia, 
on the north-western Virginia border and the western part of 
Pennsylvania, in the vicinity of Fort Pitt, had been severely 
harassed by the Indians, On the 9th of that month, a party of 
four men, despatched from Fort Pitt, were all killed and 
scalped at the distance of fifteen miles from the fort. On the 
13th, a man named David Morgan, of Monongalia, discovered 
two Indians creeping upon several children at work in a field. 
He gave the alarm to the latter, and then shot one of the In- 
dians dead. The other rushed upon Morgan, and grappled, 
with him. A severe contest ensued for the possession of the 
Indian's knife, which Morgan ultimately obtained ; the Indian, 
by grasping the blade, having his hand severely lacerated. 
Morgan stabbed the Indian, and ran for the fort, while the In- 
dian took to the woods. A party set off immediately in pur- 
suit, and soon overtook the savage, sitting against a tree. He 
begged for mercy, and was at first taken as a prisoner ; but 
during the march back to the fort, he became rather surly, 
whereupon his captors killed and scalped him — taking, also, 
the scalp from the warrior who had been first shot by Mougan. 
On the following day another Indian scout was discovered, one 

* Campbell's Annals. The authority of Mr. Campbell for most if not all his in- 
formation respecting the operations of the enemy in the Schoharie country, was the 
late Rev. Mr. Fenn, of Harpersfield — a gentleman most intimately acquainted with 
the early history of that region. Still, there is clearly a mistake in assigning, as has 
been done, Captain Patrick as the American leader against the Onondagas on this 
occasion, since that officer fell in the same neighborhood more than a year before, as 
stated in a letter written at the time by Colonel Varick. [See chap. xvi. text, and also 
a note.] "Who led the Americans on this last occasion, the author has not ascertained. 
But the accounts just referred to, that it was Captain Patrick, are certainly incor- 
rect — unless, indeed, tliere wore two Patricks, botli captains, and both killed in the 
same neighborhood. 



414 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779. 

of whom was killed and scalped. Two days afterward the 
Indians killed and scalped David Maxwell and his wife. Se- 
veral families were carried into captivity. Among the prison- 
ers was one resolute woman, who killed one of her guards, 
wounded another, and effected her escape.* These individual 
murders were the more cruel, inasmuch as they could have no 
effect upon the result of the pending contest. The snatching 
away of prisoners by these petty expeditions was a different 
affair ; and often served a twofold purpose — enabling the enemy 
frequently to extort information, and, by a silent operation, con- 
tinually increasing the number of prisoners in their hands for 
exchange. But, whether murdered outright or carried into cap- 
tivity, the trials of the inhabitants upon a frontier, thus hourly 
exposed to dangers of the most appalling description, can scarce- 
ly be appreciated by those who have not been placed in similar 
peril. 

The frontier towns of the County of Ulster were likewise 
not a little annoyed, in the early part of May, by a detachment 
of thirty or forty of Butler's rangers, who, from their knowledge 
of the country, were supposed to have fled to the royal standard 
from that neighborhood. On the 4th of May, four dwelling- 
houses and five barns were burnt by them in Fantine-kill. 
Six of the inhabitants were murdered, besides three or four 
more who were supposed to be burnt in their houses. Colonel 
Philip Van Courtlandt, stationed at that time with one of the 
New- York regiments at Warwasing, went in pursuit of the 
traitors ; but although he twice came in sight of them upon the 
crest of a mountain, they were too dexterous in threading the 
forests to allow him to overtake them ; and the Colonel had 
scarcely turned back from the pursuit, before they fell upon the 
town of Woodstock, in the neighborhood of Kingston, where 
they burnt several houses and committed other depredations. 
They made a few prisoners, some of whom were carried away ; 
while others were compelled, by the up-raised hatchet, to take 
an oath not to serve in arms against the King.t 

In order to preserve, unbroken, a narrative of the principal 
Indian campaign of the present year, it is necessary somewhat 
to anticipate the progress of events, by recording in this place 

* Almon's Remembrancer — letter from Fort Pitt. 

i Idem— Article from Warwasing, published first in Poughkeepsie. 



1779.J INVASION OF MINISINK. 415 

the particulars of the celebrated invasion of Miiiisink, and the 
bloody battle that immediately ensued near the Delaware.* 
The brave Count Pulaski, with his battalion of cavalry, had 
been stationed at Minisink during the preceding winter ; but in 
the month of February he was ordered to South Carolina, to 
join the army of General Lincoln.! Left thus wholly unpro- 
tected, save by its own people, Captain Brant determined to 
make a descent upon it, for the purpose of taking both plunder 
and prisoners. Accordingly, on the 20th of July, or rather 
during the night of the 19th, tlie crafty Mohawk stole upon tlie 
slumbering town, at the head of sixty Indians and twenty- 
seven Tory warriors, disguised as Indians— which was a very 
common practice with the loyalists when acting with the 
savages. Such was the silence of their approach, that several 
houses were already in flames when the inhabitants awoke to 
their situation. Thus surprised, and wholly unprepared, all 
who could escape fled in consternation, leaving the invaders to 
riot upon the spoil. Ten houses and twelve barns were burnt, 
together with a small stockade fort and two mills. Several 
persons were killed, and others taken prisoners. The farms 
of the settlement were laid waste, the cattle driven away, 
and all the booty carried off which the invaders could remove. 
Having thus succeeded in his immediate object. Brant lost no 
time in leading his party back to the main body of his war- 
riors, whom he had left at Grassy Brook. 

No sooner had the fugitives from Minisink arrived at Goshen 
with the intelligence, than Dr. Tusten, the Colonel of the local 
militia, issued orders to the oflicers of liis command to meet 
him at Minisink on the following day, with as many volunteers 
as they could raise. Tiie order was promptly obeyed, and a 
body of one hundred and forty-nine men met their colonel at 
the designated rendezvous, at the time appointed — including 
many of the principal gentlemen of the county. A council of 

* Minisink, for an inland American town, is very ancient. It is situated about 
ten miles west of Goshen, in the County of Orange, (N. Y.) on the Navisink river, 
and among what are called the Shawangunk Mountains. It is bordered on the 
south-west by both the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Wallkill 
also risis in this town. Its history, previous to the war of the Revolution, is full of 
interest. A severe battle was fought with the Indians in Minisink, July 22, 1669, 
the bloody horrors of which yet live in the traditions of that neighborhood. 

+ Letter of Washington. 



416 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779 

war was held, to determine upon the expediency of a pursuit. 
Colonel Tusten was himself opposed to the proposition, with 
so feeble a command, and with the certainty, if they overtook 
the enemy, of being- obliged to encounter an officer combining, 
with his acknowledged prowess, so much of subtlety as charac- 
terized the movements of the Mohawk chief. His force, more- 
over, was believed to be greatly superior to their's in numbers, 
and to include many Tories as well acquainted with the coun- 
try as themselves. The Colonel, therefore, preferred waiting 
for the reinforcements which would be sure soon to arrive, the 
more especially as the volunteers already with him were but 
ill provided with arms and ammunition. Others, however, were 
for immediate pursuit. They affected to hold the Indians in 
contempt, insisted that they would not fight, and maintained 
that a re-capture of the plunder they had taken would be an 
easy achievement. Town-meeting counsels, in the conduct of 
war, are not usually the wisest, as will appear in the sequel. 
The majority of Tusten's command were evidently determined 
to pursue the enemy ; but their deliberations were cut short 
by Major Meeker, who mounted his horse, flourished his sword, 
and vauntingly called out — " Let the brave men follow me, 
the cowards may stay behind !" It may readily be supposed 
that such an appeal to an excited multitude would decide the 
question, as it did. The line of march was immediately taken 
up, and after proceeding seventeen miles the same evening, they 
encamped for the night. On the morning of the 22d they 
were joined by a small reinforcement under Colonel Hathorn, 
of the Warwick regiment, who, as the senior of Colonel Tusten, 
took the command. When they had advanced a few miles, to 
Halfway Brook, they came upon the Indian encampment of 
the preceding night, and another council was held there. 
Colonels Hathorn, Tusten, and others, whose valor was go- 
verned by prudence, were opposed to advancing farther, as the 
number of Indian fires, and the extent of ground they had oc- , 
cupied, removed all doubt as to the superiority of their numbers. 
A scene similar to that which had broken up the former coun- 
cil was acted at this place, and with the same result. The 
voice of prudence was compelled to yield to that of bravado. 

Captain Tyler, who had some knowledge of the woods, was 
sent forward at the head of a small scouting party, to follow the 



1779.] INVASION OF MINISINK. 417 

trail of the Indians, and to ascertain, if possible, their movements; 
since it was evident that they could not be far in advance. 
The Captain had proceeded but a short distance before he fell 
from the fire of an unseen enemy. This circumstance occa- 
sioned considerable alarm ; but the volunteers, nevertheless, 
pressed eagerly forward, and it was not long before they 
emerged upon the hills of the Delaware, in full view of that 
river, upon the eastern bank of which, at the distance of three- 
fourths of a mile, the Indians were seen deliberately marching 
in the direction of a fording-place near the mouth of the Lack- 
awaxen. This discovery was made at about 9 o'clock in 
the morning. The intention of Brant to cross at the fording- 
place was evident ; and it was afterward ascertained that his 
booty had already been sent thither in advance. 

The determination was immediately formed by Colonel Ha- 
thorn, to intercept the enemy at the fording-place, for which 
purpose instant dispositions were made. But, owing to in- 
tervening woods and hills, the opposing bodies soon lost sight 
of each other, and an adroit movement on the part of Brant 
gave him an advantage which it was impossible for the Ameri- 
cans to regain. Anticipating the design of Hathorn, the moment 
the Americans were out of sight Brant wheeled to the right, and 
by threading a ravine across which Hathorn had passed, threw 
himself into his rear, by which means he was enabled delibe- 
rately to select his ground for a battle and form an ambuscade. 
Disappointed in not finding the enemy, the Americans were 
brought to a stand, when the enemy disclosed himself partially, 
in a quarter altogether unexpected. According to the Ameri- 
can account, the first shot was fired upon an Indian, who was 
known, and who was mounted upon a horse stolen at Minisink. 
The Indian fell, and the firing soon became general — the enemy 
contriving, in the early part of the engagement, to cut oif from 
the main body of Hathorn's troops a detachment comprising 
one third of his whole number. The conflict was long and 
obstinate. The number of the enemy being several times 
greater than that of the Goshen militia, the latter were sur- 
rounded, and ultimately hemmed within the circumference of 
an acre of ground. Being short of ammunition, Hathorn's or- 
ders, in imitation of those of Putnam at Bunker Hill, were 
strict that no man should fire until very sure that his powder 



418 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779 

would not be lost.* The battle commenced about 11 o'clock 
in the morning, and was maintained until the going down of 
the sun ; both parties fighting after the Indian fashion, every 
man for himself, and the whole keeping up an irregular fire 
from behind rocks and trees as best they could. About sunset 
the ammunition of the militia was expended, and the survivors 
attempted to retreat, but many of them were cut down. Doc- 
tor Tusten was engaged behind a cliff of rocks in dressing the 
wounded wlien the retreat commenced. There were seven- 
teen disabled men under his care at the moment, whose cries 
for protection and mercy were of the most moving description. 
The Indians fell upon them, however, and they all, together 
with the Doctor, perished under the tomahawk. Among the 
slain were many of the first citizens of Goshen ; and of the 
whole number that went forth, only about thirty returned to 
tell the melancholy story.t Several of the fugitives were shot 
while attempting to escape by swimming the Delaware. 

Brant has been severely censured for the cruelties perpe- 
trated, or alleged to have been perpetrated, in this batde. He 
always maintained that he had been unjustly blamed, and that 
his conduct had been the subject of unjust reproach. He 
stated that, having ascertained that the Goshen militia were in 
pursuit of him, determined to give him battle, he of course 
prepared himself for their reception. Still, having obtained 
the supplies he needed, his own object was accomplished. He 
also stated, that on the near approach of the Americans, he 
rose, and presenting himself openly and fairly to their view, ad- 
dressed himself to their commanding officer, and demanded their 
surrender — promising at the same time to treat them kindly as 
prisoners of v/ar. He assured them, frankly, that his force in 
ambush was sufficient to overpower and destroy them ; that 
then, before any blood had been shed, he could control his 
warriors ; but should the battle commence, he could not an- 

* Putnam's order was — " Don't fire, boys, till you see the white of their eyes." 
f Among the slain v/ere Jones, Little, Duncan, Wisner, Vail, Townsend, and 
Knapp. In 1822 the people of Orange County coUectpd the bones, which until then 
had been left to bleach on the battle-field, and caused them to be buried. The fune- 
ral procession numbered twelve thousand people, amons whom was Major Poppino, 
one of the survivors of the battle — then nearly one hundred years old. The author 
has to some extent drawn upon the discourse of the Rev. Dr. Wilson, delivered on 
tliat occasion, in vviiting this account of the battle. 



1779.] HIS ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE. 419 

swer for the consequences. But, he said, while he was thus par- 
leying with them, he was fired upon, and narrowly escaped be- 
ing shot down — the ball piercing the outer fold of his belt. 
Immediately upon receiving the shot, he retired, and se- 
creted himself among his warriors. The militia, emboldened 
by his disappearance, seeing no other enemy, and disbelieving 
what he had told them, rushed forward heedlessly until they 
were completely within his power. In crossing a creek they 
had broken their order, and before they could form again on 
the other side, Brant gave the well-known signal of the war- 
whoop. Q.uick as the lightning's flash, his dark cloud of war- 
riors were upon their feet. Having fired once, they sprang 
forward, tomahawk in hand. The conflict was fierce and 
bloody. Few escaped, and several of the prisoners were 
killed. There was one who during the battle saved himself 
by means which Brant said were dishonorable. By some pro- 
cess or other, though not a freemason, he had acquired a know 
ledge of the master mason's grand hailing signal of distress ; 
and having been informed that Brant was a member of the 
brotherhood, he gave the mystic sign. Faithful to his pledge, 
the chieftain interposed and saved his life. Discovering the 
imposture afterward, he was very indignant. Still, he spared 
his life, and the prisoner ultimately returned to his friends af- 
ter a long captivity.* 

* This version of the battle, as given by Brant, has been derived by the author 
from the notes of conversations with the old chief, by Samuel Woodruff, Esq. here- 
tofore cited. The prisoner referred to as having been saved by the erroneous sup. 
position of Brant that he was a freemason, was the late Major Wood of Orange 
County. The P>,ev. Doctor Wilson gives the following account of this incident : — 
"Major Wood of Orange Count}', (N. Y.) was made a prisoner at the battle of 
Minisink, because Brant, from an accidental sign, mistook him for a Freemason. On 
the evening after the battle, when the ' monster ' was about to tie him, he remon- 
strated, said he was a gentleman, and promised not to escape. He was not tied, but 
laid between two Indians ; and told, that should he attempt to escape he should be 
tomahawked. The blanket on which he lay took nre in the ni2:ht, and he dared not 
move, lest the tomahawk might sink into his head, until the fire reached his feet, 
when he kicked it out. It was Brant's blanket. Brant treated him very harshly ever 

after; and when Major Wood asked him the reason, he replied, 'D n you, you 

burnt my blanket.' Major Wood was, for many years after the peace, a resident ot 
Orange County, and one of its most respectable citizens." Dr. Wilson supposes 
that the Masonic signal was made by mere accident. It may have been so ; but the 
author has been told otlierwise, and that one of the first acts of his life, after his re- 
turn, was to become a freemason. This he considered himself in honor bound to do. 



420 LIFE OF BRANT. [177^. 

There was another occurrence of deep and thrilhng interest 
connected with this battle, the particulars of which were related 
in after-years by Brant himself, while on a visit to the city of 
New- York.* Among those who were grievously wounded was 
Lieutenant-Colonel Gabriel Wisner, a gentleman of great re- 
spectability, a magistrate, serving among the Goshen volun- 
teers. In surveying the battle-field, the situation of Wisner ar- 
rested the attention of the Indian commander, who exammed 
his condition. The chief saw that he was wounded past hope 
of recovery, but he was, nevertheless, in the full possession of his 
faculties, and was even able to converse. Believing his case 
to be altogether beyond the power of medical and surgical 
skill, and having no means of carrying him away. Brant re- 
flected a moment upon his own course of duty. He was dis- 
posed to save his life if he could, and yet felt that it was 
impossible. To leave him thus helpless and alone upon the 
field, in the possession of his senses to a degree enabling hnn 
to appreciate all the horrors of his situation, would be the 
height of cruelty. Added to which was the moral certainty, 
that the wolves abounding in the forest, guided by the scent of 
blood, would soon be gorging themselves alike upon the wounded 
and the dead. The thought, therefore, that Wisner might be torn 
in pieces while yet alive, seemed to him even more than savage 
cruelty. Under these distressing circumstunces and consider- 
ations, the chief argued with himself that true humanity re- 
quired a speedy termination of his sufferings. Having formed 
this conclusion, the next point was to compass his death with- 
out inflicting additional torture upon his feelings. With this 
view he engaged Wisner in conversation, and while diverting 
his attention, struck him dead in an instant, and unperceived, 
with his hatchet. It was but a savage exhibition of humanity ; 
but there was benevolence in the intention, however strangely 
reasoned ; and the motive of the final blow is to be applauded, 
notwithstanding the shudder caused by its contemplation.t 

He also stated that he had always felt mortified at the deception he had practised, 
and that nothing could have been more withering than the scorn with which Brant 
ever looked upon him afterward. 

* Conversations of Brant with General Morgan Lewis, related by the latter to 
the author. 

t The British account of this battle, published in New- York on the 18th of Au- 
gust, 1779, as received from " a person just arrived from Joseph Brant and his 



1779.] INDIAN IRRUPTIONS. 421 

From Minisink, by a rapid movement, Brant fell upon a set- 
tlement on the south side of the Mohawk, where, on the 2d of 
August, he made a few prisoners — the name of one of whom 
was House. This man, with his companions, was carried back 
into the woods, and left in charge of the Indians, while Brant, 
with four of his warriors, went off upon some secret enterprise. 
On the fourth day after his absence, he returned, attended by 
his four warriors, but on horseback himself, having been 
wounded in the foot by a musket shot. The wound, however, 
was not like that of Achilles, in the heel, but by a buck-shot in 
the ball of the great toe — and therefore in a place less equivocal 
for a soldier's honor. They then commenced their march in 
the direction of Tioga ; but as House became too lame by 
walking to continue the journey on foot, the Indians proposed 
killing him. To this Brant objected ; and having been ac- 
quainted with House before the war, he released him on condi- 
tion of his taking an oath of neutrality, which was written by 
the chief in the Indian language. House signed the oath, and 
Brant witnessed it. He was then released, and being some- 
where in the vicinity of Otsego Lake, wlrere General Clinton 
was then making preparations for his celebrated descent of tiie 
Susquehanna, House came into Clinton's camp on the 8th of 
August — the day previous to his embarkation.* 

Contemporaneously with these occurrences, and while, as 
will subsequently appear, the attention of the American officers 
was directed to more important movements, the Indians and 
Tories once more broke in upon the Pennsylvania border, in 
Northampton, Lyconia, and the neighborhood of Sunbury. 
In a succession of petty affairs between the 1st and 21st of 
July, several neighborhoods were destroyed and mills burnt. 

brethren," stated that Brant had with him only sixty Indians and twenty white men. 
Among the principal inhabitants killed, the same account gave the following return : 
"Colonel Benjamin Tustan, Jr., Captain Samuel Jones, Captain John Little, Cap- 
tain John Wood, Captain Duncan, Captain Benjamin Vail, Captain Reat Tyler, 
Adjutant Nathaniel Frink, Lieutenant Benjamin Dunning, Lieutenant Samuel 
Knapp, Lieutenant John Wood, Lieutenant Abraham Shepherd, Justice Gabriel 
Weisner, Justice Gilbert Vail, Justice Roger Townsend, Justice William Barker, 
Commissioner James Knapp, Commissioner James Mashier, Wounded, Major 
Hans Decker, Major Samuel Meeker, of the Minisink militia. Out of one hun- 
dred and forty-nine that went out, thirty returned — missing one hundred and nine- 
teen." — Vide Almoii's Remembrancer, vol. vi. p. 276. 
* MS. letter of General James Clinton to Governor Clinton, his brother. 



422 LIFE OF BRANT. [1779. 

On the 17th, all the principal houses in the township of Mun- 
sey were burnt. Two persons were killed on that day, and 
four had been killed a few days previous, besides several 
taken prisoners. On the 20th, three men were killed by a 
small party hovering about Freeland's Fort, situated on the 
West branch of the Snsquehanna, seventeen miles from Sun- 
bury. On the 28th, five days after the affair of Miiiisink, this 
little defence, which was garrisoned by only thirty men, and 
about fifty women and children who had sought refuge within 
its walls, was invested by one of the M'Donalds, at the head of 
Wo hundred Indians, and one hundred troops calling them- 
selves regulars. But, although wearing the British uniform, it 
was believed that they were American loyalists. The enemy 
met with less resistance during this irruption than would have 
been the case, but for the circumstance that the greater part of 
the men had been drafted for the boat service of General Sulli- 
van, who was then at Wyoming, preparing to enter the Seneca 
country. Fort Freeland was too weak of itself, and too weakly 
garrisoned, to hold out long against such a disparity of force. 
Captain Hawkins Boone, a brave officer, stationed with thirty 
men at a distance of some miles, marched to the relief of the 
fort immediately on hearing of ihe investment. The garrison 
had surrendered before his arrival. Boone nevertheless gave bat- 
tle to the enemy : but, overpowered by numbers, he was slain, 
together with eighteen of his men, whose scalps were carried 
as trophies into the fort. Two other officers. Captains Dough- 
erty and Hamilton, were also killed. By the terms of capitu- 
lation, M'Donald stipulated to spare the women and children, 
-and allow them to depart. The fort, and the houses in its vi- 
cinity, were then burnt.* 

Meantime the Shawanese were continuing their depredations 
upon the Ohio border of Virginia, with results certainly not 
unfavorable to the former. Colonel Boon being absent in North 
Carolina, Colonel Bowman led an expedition of one hundred 
and sixty men, in July, against the Shawanese of Old Chilicothe. 
Although Bowman fell upon the Indians suddenly, and with- 
out knowledge on their part of his approach, they nevertheless 
fought him bravely for several hours, and compelled him to 

* Almon's Remembrancer — article from Philadelphia. 



1779.] AN IMPORTANT NOTE. 423 

retreat. Falling back thirty miles, Bowman made a stand, and 
was shortly overtaken by the Indians with augmented num- 
bers. Another engagement ensued, which, during the first two 
hours, promised no advantage to the forces of Bowman. Co- 
lonel Harrod then proposed to mount a number of men upon 
horses and make a cavalry charge. The suggestion was 
adopted, and the expedient succeeded. The Indians fought 
with remarkable fury, but were, nevertheless, broken, and com- 
pelled to fly in all directions.* 

With these incidents closes the present volume. The se- 
cond will open with a narrative of the most formidable Indian 
campaign undertaken during the contest for American Inde- 
pendence. 



NOTE. 



It is desirable that the present note should be read in connec' 
tion with the sixth chapter of this volume, containing the ac - 
count of General Schuyler's expedition to Johnstown in Fe- 
bruary, 1776, for the purpose of disarming the Tories of Tryon 
County, and of arresting Sir John Johnson. The immediate 
causes of that expedition, aside from the information of a wretch 
named Connell, do not appear with sufficient distinctness to di- 
vest the proceedings of General Schuyler of a character almost 
of harshness. But while the author has entertained little, if any, 
doubt, that Congress had good and sufficient reasons for direct- 
ing the expedition, and Schuyler for his energetic execution of 
his orders, the reasons for the urgency of the movement have 
never transpired. Since the preceding sheets were from the 
press, however, the author has received copies of certain docu- 
ments from the archives of the British Government, which re- 
flect all the light upon the subject that can be desired. After 
the perusal of these papers, the propriety of the measure, if it 
ever has been, can no longer be questioned : — 

♦ Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon. 

58 



424 life op brant. [1779 

Governor Tryon to Lord George Germaine. 

" On board H. B. M. Ship, Dutchess of Gordon, ) 
" New- York Harbor, 3d Jan. 1776. \ 
" My Lord, 
" The gentleman who delivered me the enclosed letter from 
Sir Jolin Johnson, assured me that by Government's complying 
with its contents. Sir John could muster five hundred Indians 
to support the cause of government, and that these, with a body 
of regulars, might retake the forts. If Sir John had the title of 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, it would give the greatest 
weight to his Majesty's Indian affairs — the Indians having the 
greatest affection for the son of their late benefactor. I wish 
your Lordship may think as favorably of Sir John's proposals 
as I do," &c. &c. 

[enclosure in the above.] 
Sir John Johnson to Governor Tryon. 
" Sir — I hope the occasion and intention of this letter may 
plead my excuse for the liberty I take, in introducing to your 
Excellency the bearer hereof, Captain Allan M'Donnell, who 
will inform you of many particulars which cannot at this time 
be safely communicated in writing. The distracted and con- 
vulsed state that this unhappy county is now worked up to, 
and the situation that I am in here, together with the many obli- 
gations our family owe to the best of sovereigns, induce me to 
fall upon a plan that may, I hope, be of service to the country, 
the propriety of which I entirely submit to your Excellency's 
better judgment, depending on that friendship which you have 
been pleased to honor me with, for your advice on, and repre- 
sentation to His Majesty, of what I propose. Having consulted 
with all my friends in this quarter, among whom are many old 
and good officers, I have come to the resolution of forming a 
battalion, and have named all the officers, most of whom have 
a good deal of interest in their respective neighborhoods, and 
have seen a great number of men ready to complete the plan. We 
must, however, not think of stirring, until support and supplies of 
many necessaries to enable us to carry our design into execution 
are received — all which Mr. M'Donnell will inform your Excel- 
lency of I make not the least doubt of the success of this plan, 
should we be supported in time. As to news, I must beg leave 



1779.] IMPORTANT NOTE. 425 

to refer you to Mr. M'Donnell, who will inform you of every 
thing that has been done in Canada, that has come to our know- 
ledge. As I find by the papers you are soon to sail for England, 
I despair of having the pleasure to pay my respects to you, but 
most sincerely wish you an agreeable voyage, and a happy sight 
of your family and friends. 

" I am, your Excellency's 

" Most obedient, humble servant, 

''John Johnson." 

It was beyond doubt the organization and other preparations 
indicated in the preceding letter, some knowledge of which 
must have transpired, that induced Congress to direct the expe- 
dition into Tryon County, referred to above, which was so vigo- 
rously executed by General Schuyler, as narrated in the sixth 
chapter of the present volume. And the same Allan M'Donnell, 
who, with Sir John Johnson, was one of the negotiators with 
General Schuyler on that occasion, was the secret emissary sent 
by Sir John, one month before, to negotiate with Governor Try- 
on. Thus the whole matter in respect to that expedition is ex- 
plained. 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



No. I. 

[Reference from the Introduction.] 

[The following is the article referred to in the text. It is ex- 
tracted fromAlmon's American Remembrancer, (a work purporting 
to be an authentic collection of facts, published in London during the 
Revolutionary War,) for the year 1782, Vol. 14, page 185. It was 
long supposed to be authentic, but has since been ascertained to 
be a publication from the pen of Doctor Franklin, written for poli- 
tical purposes.] 

Extract of a letter from Captain Gerrisk, of the New-England mi- 
litia, dated Albany, March 7th, 1782. 

The peltry taken in the expedition will, as you see, amount to a 
good deal of money. The possession of this booty at first gave us 
pleasure ; but we were struck with horror to find among the pack- 
ages eight large ones, containing scalps of our unhappy folks taken 
in the three last years by the Seneca Indians, from the inhabitants 
of the frontiers of New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vir- 
ginia, and sent by them as a present to Col. Haldiman, Governor 
of Canada, in order to be by him transmitted to England. They 
were accompanied by the following curious letter to that gentle- 
man : — 

" Tioga, January 3d, 1782. 
" May it please your Excellency, 

At the request of the Seneca chiefs, I send herewith to your 
Excellency, under the care of James Boyd, eight packs of scalps, 
cured, dried, hooped, and painted with all the Indian triumphal 
marks, of which the following is invoice and explanation. 
No. 1. Containing 43 scalps of Congress soldiers, killed in different 
skirmishes ; these are stretched on black hoops, four inch dia- 
meter ; the inside of the skin painted red, with a small black spot 



APPENDIX. 



to note their being killed with bullets. Also 62 of farmers, killed 
in their houses ; the hoops red ; the skin painted brown, and 
marked with a hoe ; a black circle all round to denote their be- 
ing surprised in the night ; and a black hatchet in the middle, 
signifying their being killed with that weapon. 

No. 2. Containing 98 of farmers, killed in their houses ; hoops red ; 
figure of a hoe, to mark their profession ; great white circle 
and sun, to show they were surprised in the day-time ; a little 
red foot, to show they stood upon their defence, and died fight- 
ing for their lives and families. 

No. 3. Containing 97 of farmers ; hoops green, to show they were 
killed in their fields ; a large white circle with a little round 
mark on it for the sun, to show that it was in the daytime ; 
black bullet mark on some — hatchet on others. 

No 4. Containing 102 of farmers, mixed of the several marks 
above ; only 18 marked with a little yellow flame, to denote 
their being of prisoners burnt alive, after being scalped, their 
nails pulled out by the roots, and other torments ; one of these 
latter supposed to be of a rebel clergyman, his band being fixed 
to the hoop of his scalp. Most of the farmers appear by the 
hair to have been young or middle aged men ; their being but 
67 very gray heads among them all ; which makes the service 
more essential. 

No. 5. Containing 88 scalps of women ; hair long, braided in the 
Indian fashion, to show they were mothers ; hoops blue ; skin 
yellow ground, with little red tadpoles, to represent, by way of 
triumph, the tears of grief occasioned to their relations ; a 
black scalping-knife or hatchet at the bottom, to mark their 
being killed with those instruments ; 17 others, hair very gray ; 
black hoops ; plain brown colour, no mark but the short club 
or cassetete, to show they were knocked down dead, or had 
their brains beat out. 

No. 6. Containing 193 boys' scalps, of various ages; small green 
hoops ; whitish ground on the skin, with red tears in the mid- 
dle, and black bullet marks, knife, hatchet, or club, as their 
deaths happened. 
No. 7. 211 girls scalped, big and little; small yellow hoops ; white 

ground ; tears, hatchet, club, scalping-knife, &c. 
No. 8. This package is a mixture of all the varieties above-men- 
tioned, to the number of 122 ; with a box of birch bark, con- 
taining 29 little infants' scalps of various sizes ; small white 
hoops ; white ground. 



APPENDIX. UJ 

With these packs the Chiefs send to your Excellency the follow- 
ing speech, delivered by Coneiogatchie, in council, interpreted by 
the elder Moore, the trader, and taken down by me in writino-. 

^^ Father ! — We send you herewith many scalps, that you may 
see that we are not idle friends. A blue belt. 

" Father ! — We wish you to send these scalps over the water to 
the Great King, that he may regard them and be refreshed ; and 
that he may see our faithfulness in destroying his enemies, and be 
convinced that his presents have not been made to ungrateful people. 
A blue and white belt with red tassels.. 

^^ Father ! — Attend to what I am now going to say ; it is a mat- 
ter of much weight. The great King's enemies are many, and they 
grow fast in number. They were formerly like young panthers ; 
they could neither bite nor scratch ; we could play with them safely ; 
we feared nothing they could do to us. But now tfaeir bodies are 
become big as the elk, and strong as the buffalo , they have also got 
great and sharp claws. They have driven us out of our country 
by taking part in your quarrel. We expect the great King will 
give us another country, that our children may live after us, and be 
his friends and children as we are. — Say this for us to the great 
King. To enforce it, we give this belt. A great white belt with 
blue tassels. 

" Father ! — We have only to say further, that your traders exact 
more that ever for their goods ; and our hunting is lessened by the 
war, so that we have fewer skins to give for them. This ruins us. 
Think of some remedy. We are poor, and you have plenty of every 
thing. We know you will send us powder and guns, and knives, 
and hatchets ; but we also want shirts and blankets. A little white 
belt." 

I do not doubt but that your Excellency will think it proper to 
give some further encouragement to those honest people. The 
high prices they complain of, are the necessary effect of the war. 
Whatever presents may be sent for them through my hands shall be 
distributed with prudence and fidelity. I have the honour of be- 
ing 

Your Excellency's most obedient, 

And most humble servant, 

JAMES CRAUFURD, 



m 



APPENDIX. 



No. II. 
[Reference from Page 104.] 

Account of the treaty held at Albany, in August 1775, with the 
Six Nations, by the Commissioners of the Twelve United Colonies, 
met at General Congress at Philadelphia. 

The Commissioners on the part of the Colonies, were Major Ge- 
neral Philip Schuyler, Major Joseph Hawley, Mr. Turbot Francis, 
Mr. Oliver Wolcott, and Mr. Volkert P. Douw. After the ad- 
journment from German Flatts, and the arrival of the Indians at 
Albany, as stated in the text, the following proceedings were had. 

At a meeting of the Commissioners for transacting Indian affairs 
m the northern department, held at Albany on Wednesday, the 23d 
August, 1775. Present, 

Gen. Schuyler, Col. Francis, Mr. Douw. 

Resolved, unanimously, that the Indians of the Six Nations be 
invited to receive our congratulations on their safe arrival here ; 
that it be at five o'clock tliis afternoon ; that the committee of the 
city of Albany and the principal gentlemen of the place be requested 
to accompany the Commissioners ; and that the following letters be 
wrote for that purpose to the chairman of the committee. 

Albany, 22d August, 1775. 
Gentlemen. — ^Your generous exertions to support the American 
cause against the nefarious schemes of a wicked and profligate mi- 
nistry, the propriety with which you have conducted those Indian 
affairs that have become the subject of your consideration, a con- 
sciousness that without your aid, and that of gentlemen of the town 
conversant in those matters, the important business of the ensuing 
conference cannot be so properly conducted as our zeal for the ser- 
vice makes us wish, are so many motives which point out to us the 
necessity of calling on you and those gentlemen for your aid and 
advice ; which we entreat you will give us without reserve ; and 
be assured that it will be attended to with all that deference that is 
due to your respectable body and to their good judgment. We 
propose to pay a visit this afternoon at five o'clock to the Indians. 
We beg the favor of the committee to honor us with their com. 
pany, as so respectable a body will greatly add to the complimentary 
visit we mean to pay them. We shall go from Cartwright's, and 



,^ 



shall take it as a favor if the gentlemen of the town, who are not 
of the committee, would be pleased to go with us. 
We are, gentlemen, with great respect. 

Your most humble servants, 

P. Schuyler, 

VOLKERT P. DOTJW, 

TuRBOT Francis. 

To which the committee returned the following answer : — 

Gentlemen, — Your polite invitation for us to join in paying a 
complimentary visit to the Indians this afternoon at five o'clock, we 
accept of, and shall for that purpose attend at Cartwright's at the 
hour appointed. 

We are, gentlemen, your most humble servants. 
By order of the committee, 

Abraham Yates, Jr. Chairman. 

The sachems and warriors of the Six Nations being assembled, 
the Commissioners, attended by the committee and principal gen- 
tlemen of the city of Albany, met them, and addressed them as fol- 
lows : — 

Brethren op the Six Nations, — We, the deputies appointed 
by the Twelve United Colonies, the decendants of Quedar, * and the 
gentlemen of the city of Albany, congratulate you on your arrival 
here. They are glad to see you well, and thank the great God that 
he suffers us to meet. 



At a meeting of the Commissioners for transacting Indian affairs 
for the northern department held at the city of Albany, on Tuesday, 
25th of August, 1775. Present, 

Gen. Schuyler, Col. Wolcott, Col. Francis, Mr. Douw. 

The following message was sent to the committee of the cit of 
Albany : — 

Albany, 25th August, 1775. 

Gentlemen, — The Commissioners of Indian affairs are to open 
the treaty with the Six Nations this morning, about eleven, at the 
Dutch church. They request the favor of your attendance, and 
that of the principal gentlemen of the town, and would wish, previ- 

* " Q,uedar," the name which the Indians had given Governor Stuyvesant — bein^ 
probably, the result of tlieir effort to pronounce the name " Peter." 



VI APPENDIX. 

ous to the meeting, to be honored with your company at Cart- 
Wright's. 

To Abraham Yates, Jr. Esq. Chairman of the committee of 
Albany. 

The chairman and committee attended agreeable to invitation. 
In the course of their interview with the Commissioners this day, 
the Indians stated that they had some business to transact with the 
people of Albany, with whom they were desirous of having an inter- 
view before proceeding with the main object for which the Council 
had been convened. They therefore requested a day for that pur- 
pose. The request was granted — a meeting of the citizens of Al- 
bany was held immediately, at which Walter Livingston, Jere- 
miah Van Renselaer, and Dr. Samuel Stringer were appointed 
a committee to hold the preliminary council with the Indians. 
The interview took place on the same evening, when Seaghnagerat, 
an Oneida sachem, opened the proceedings by the following 
speech :— 

" Brothers of Albany : — We beg you will acquaint us when 
your body is complete. 

" Brotehrs of Albany : — The day is now come -that we have 
arrived in consequence of your invitation. When you saw four of 
the Oneida Nations, you said you was glad to see them at your 
Council Chamber. We are now here in consequence thereof. 
You told us you would be glad to see us again — that you rejoiced 
to see them, and that you would open the ashes, and rekindle the 
old council-fire at Albany. We are glad to see that some of the 
sparks of that old council-fire yet remain. We rejoice, e ven to 
excess, to find it so. 

'• Brothers attend ! — I have one addition to make to what 
passed between four of the Oneida Nation and you, when last at 
your Council Chamber. When you found from our conference 
with your brothers at the German Flatts, that our sentiments of 
public affairs so much coincided with yours, you farther told us that 
all the governments of America on the sea-coasts were anxious to 
know whether we were disposed to peace, and that you, the Twelve 
United Colonies, were resolved to support your civil constitution 
and liberties, and you rejoiced to find that we all so firmly re- 
solved to maintain peace. 

" Brothers of Albany :— You farther observed. In the intercourse 
you had with four of the Oneida Nation, that you greatly rejoiced 
at the conference you had at the German Flatts. You farther said 
that you was surprised about a letter Guy Johnson had received 



APPENDIX. Vli 

from the chief warrior, General Gage, about removing the mi- 
nisters from among us. That you rejoiced that the Indians were in- 
structed in the Christian religion, and that the ministers that were 
among us might continue. 

" Brothers op Albany, attend ! — We have something further 
yet to relate of your speech. You desired, at the intercourse you 
had with the four messengers, that we should acquaint the Six Na- 
tions with your speech, and that thereafter three or four of each 
Nation should come down. You farther said that you would have 
been glad to have attended at the council-fire at Guy Johnson's to 
hear what he should say to the Indians, and see if his sentiments 
and yours should coincide. But you then soon heard that he had 
removed from there to Fort Stanwix, from there to Oswego ; that 
you despaired of hearing any thing from him, and therefore desired 
us that we would let you know what was done at that fire. 

" Brothers, attend ! — You made another proposal at the inter- 
course you had with four of our Nation, which was this : — that you 
had heard that there was to be a council of the whole of our Nation 
at the German Flatts, you desired our people that they would let 
you know what passed between us and them. Our delegates, in 
our names, then told you that it would be more agreeable that two 
or more of your members should attend, and hear themselves what 
passed there. This, brethren, is the substance of what passed be- 
tween you and the four of the Oneida Nation. 

" Brothers of Albany, attend ! — We now, upon this day, go- 
ing through with what passed between some of your members and 
us, when the conference ended at German Flatts. You said — Bro- 
thers, let us both endeavor to keep peace, that we may continue to 
enjoy its blessings. We desire not that you should trouble your- 
selves in the least with these disputes between us and those over the 
great waters ; only exert yourselves in maintaining the covenant 
that was made between your and our forefathers, at this place of 
our council-fire. Your delegates told us at the German Flatts, that, 
although you should be drove back from the sea-coast by your 
enemies, yet you would not ask our aid. 

" Brothers of Albany, farther attend ! — Two things more 
you delivered at the German Flatts. The first was this ; — That we, 
the Oneida Nation, should give a kind ear to your speech ; you 
then produced two ancient belts of wampum, — one of twenty rows, 
which was the old covenant between the whole Oneida Nation and 
Quedar-Gorah ; another that was given by the Six Nations, by the 
Indian called Kayinguaraghtoh, of the Seneca Nation; you also 



Vni APPENDIX. 

said that these belts should again be produced for the inspection of 
the whole Six Nations at the intended council-fire to be re-kindled 
at Albany. 

" Brothers of Albany : — We have now finished the principal 
subjects that passed between you and us, the Oneida Nation ; and 
we, all of us, the Six Nations, are here now present, to hear what 
has passed, and to prevent any false reports that may be propa- 
gated by news carriers. 

, " Brothers of Albany, now attend ! — You, also, the commis- 
sioners who are here present, lend your ears and hear our voice. 
You, our brothers of Albany, have desired the sentiments of the Six 
Nations. We, the Six Nations and our allies, which extend to Detroit, 
Ohio, and Caughnawaga, upon our first hearing the bad news that 
circulated along the eastern shore of this island, assembled and resolv- 
ed upon a union amongst us, Indians, and to maintain peace ; and we 
rejoice that nothing more has been asked of us. There is nothing dif- 
ferent in our minds than what we have now told. We shall not take 
notice of any hostile propositions that may be made to us, for we 
bear an equal proportion of love to you and the others over the 
great waters in the present dispute ; and we shall remain at peace 
and smoke our pipes ; and the Six Nations will always keep the 
path open, and we call God to witness to the truth of what we now 
say, and it proceeds from our hearts. [A belt of eight rows.l 

" Brothers of Albany, now attend, and incline your ears to 
what we have now to say : — 

" We, the Six Nations, have heard the voice of a bird called 
Tskleleli, a news carrier, that came among us. It has told us that 
the path at the western communication, by Fort Stanwix, would 
be shut up, either by the one party or the other. Brothers, let it 
not be ; and let the communication be open for passing and re- 
passing, and let not our country be stained with blood, and be al- 
ways compassionate to the old women, and let the young ones grow 
up and enjoy the blessings of peace. Brothers, let not that passage 
be shut up by you, but confine yourselves to the dispute to the east- 
ward ; for this western communication lays near our council-fire, 
and the consequence might be fatal. Indeed, Brothers, your lan- 
guage and Col. Guy Johnson's coincides, in some things, with one 
another ; and the party that applies to us to shut up that passage 
we will look upon as deceivers and transgressors ; and we despise 
a double-dealer from our hearts, and whom we look upon God Al- 
mighty will hereafter punish as such. And we hope that when you 



give your answer, you will speak from the integrity of your hearts, 
as we now have done. [A belt of ff teen rows.^ 

" Brothers of Albany, attend ! — The Five Nations just now 
said they would open their minds in full to you, — they would tell 
you every thing they brought with them. This Belt respects the 
letter Guy Johnson received from General Gage, concerning the 
removal of the ministers from among us. Our father, the minister 
who stands here, we love,* we love him exceedingly. Perhaps, in a 
little time, he may be wrested from us, carried off like a prisoner. 
Our hearts tremble for him — we tremble greatly. He has been 
threatened ; and should he be taken, it might overthrow the whole 
Five Nations. Our brothers, the white people, would, perhaps, say 
that the Oneida Nation had delivered up their minister, and that 
the Six Nations did not regard their missionaries. But, truly, we 
regard our father, the minister, and missionaries ; therefore, we 
propose to your consideration, whether it be not wise that the mis- 
sionaries retire for a httle while ; particularly our father, the mi- 
nister, Mr, Kirkland, should reside a short space with his family, as 
we hope this quarrel cannot subsist long, because you are brothers, 
both of one nation and blood, and we hope it will soon be settled ; 
and when a reconciliation takes place, let our missionaries imme- 
diately return to us ; this, however, we refer to your consideration, 
and leave at your pleasure. Now, Brethren, we have unburthened 
our minds, and opened our bosoms, and delivered what we had to say." 

To which the Albanian Committee made the following reply : 

" Brothers of the Six Nations ! — We thank you for your 
speech. The Commissioners appointed by the Twelve United Colo- 
nies, and with our consent, will first transact business with you ; 
after they have done, we will answer your speech." 

At a treaty began and held with the Indians of the Six United 
Nations at the city of Albany, on Friday, the 25th of August, 
1775 — Present — 

Gen. Schuyler, Col. Oliver Wolcott, Col. Turbot Francis, Volkert 
P. Douw, Commissoners ; the Chairman and Committee, and prin- 
cipal inhabitants of the city of Albany. The proceedings were open- 
ed by the Oneida sachem, Seaghnagerat, by the following speech : 

" Brothers : — We acquainted you yesterday evenino-, that we 
should first speak to our brethren, the Committee of Albany. We 
have done so, and have opened our whole minds to them. 

" Brothbrs : — When we met two of your body at the German 
Flatts, they presented these strings to us, and invited us to come 
* Rev. Mr. Kirkland, 



APPENDIX. 



down to Albany, and kindle up a great council-fire of peace, un- 
der the auspices of the Twelve United Colonies. Now, as these 
strings have never been changed, we return them to you again, and 
desire that the great council-fire of peace may be kindled up. 

" Brothers : — You desired us to shut our ears, and fortify our 
minds against any evil reports that we might hear on our way down, 
and to pay no regard to what any liars and ill-disposed persons 
might say to us, as they would only mean to sow dissention between 
us and our brothers of the Twelve United Colonies. 

" Brothers : — Our minds are proof against the attempts of such 
wicked persons. Now, Brothers, let us give you a little advice on 
our parts. There are liars and mischief-makers among the Indians, 
as well as amongst the white people. Therefore pay no regard to 
this or that that any single Indian may say, but attend to vvhat 
you may hear from the mouth of our great council ; for that will be 
the truth, and the sense of all the Six United Nations." 

The Commissioners then replied in the following words : — 

" Brothers, Sachems, AND Warriors OF THE Six Nations! — 
We return thanks to the Great God that has suffered us to meet 
together this day, in love, peace, and friendship. In token of 
which we will now sit down and smoke the pipe of peace together." 

[Here the great calumet was lighted up, and went round ; after 
which the Commissioners proceeded : — ] 

" Brothers : — We, the deputies appointed by and in the name oi 
the Twelve United Colonies, assisted by the descendants of your 
ancient friend Quedar, and your Albany brethren, embrace this 
opportunity to rekindle the ancient council-fire, which formerly 
burnt as bright as the sun in this place, and to heap on it so much 
fuel that it may never be extinguished ; and also to renew the an- 
cient covenant chain with you, which you know has always been 
kept bright and clean, without any stain or rust; and which by tiiis 
belt we now strengthen, that for ever hereafter you and we may 
have but one heart, one head, one eye, and one hand. [A belt.] 

" Brethren :-Our business with you, besides kindling the ancient 
council-fire, and renewing the covenant and brightening up every 
link of the chain, is, in the first place, to inform you of the advice 
that was given, about thirty years ago, by your wise forefathers, in 
a great council which they held at Lancaster in Pennsylvania, 
when Cannassateego spoke to us in these very words.* ' Brethren, 

* See Colden's History of the Five Nations, and Massachusetts Historical Col- 
lection, for an account of the treaty referred to— 1744. 



* we, the Six Nations, heartily recommend unison and a good agree- 

* ment between you, our brethren. Never disagree, but preserve a 

* strict friendship for one another ; and thereby you, as well as we, 
'will become the stronger. Our wise forefathers established unison 
' and amity between the Five Nations. This has made us formid- 

* able : this has given us great weight and authority with our 

* neighboring nations. We are a poAverful confederacy ; and if 
' you observe the same methods our v/ise forefathers have taken, you 
' will acquire fresh strength and power. Therefore, whatever be- 
' falls you, never fall out with one another.' These were the words 
of Cannassateego. 

" Brothers : — Our forefathers rejoiced to hear Cannassateego 
speak these words. They sunk deep into their hearts. The ad- 
vice was good. It was kind. They said to one another, 'The 
' Six nations are a wise people. Let us hearken to them, and tako 

* their counsel, and teach our children to follow it. Our old men 
' have done so.' They have frequently taken a single arrow, and said 
— ' Children, see how easy it is broken.' Then they have taken and 
tied twelve arrows together with a strong string, and our strongest 
men could not break them. ' See,' said they, ' this is what the Six 
'Nations mean. Divided, a single man may destroy you. United, 
'you are a match for the whole world.' We thank the Great God 
that we are all united : that we have a strong confederacy, com- 
posed of twelve provinces.* These provinces have lighted a great 
council-fire at Philadelphia, and have sent sixty-five counsellors to 
speak and act in the name of the whole, and consult for the com- 
mon good of the people, and of you, our brethren of the Six Na- 
tions, and your allies : the talk of this great council we shall de- 
liver to you to-morrow." 

The Council having resumed business on the 26th, the proceed- 
ings were opened by the Commissioners in the following manner : — 

" Brothers, Sachems, and Warriors ! — Let this string open 
your cars to hear, and incline your hearts to accept, the talk of the 
Twelve United Colonies, which they have sent to you by their 
deputies. They speak as follows : — 

" ' Brothers Sachems, axd Warriors : — We, the delegates from 
the Twelve United Provinces, viz.. New Hampshire, Massachusetts 
Baj% Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the 
three lower counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, now sit- 
ting in general congress at Philadelphia, send this talk to you, our 
* Which were enumerated. 

GO 



APPENDIX. 



brothers. We are sixty-five in number, chosen and appointed by 
the people throughout all these provinces and colonies, to meet and 
sit together in one great council, to consult together for the com- 
mon good of the land, and speak and act for them. 

" ' Brotrers : — In our consultation we have judged it proper and 
necessary to send you this talk, as we are upon the same island, 
that you may be informed of the reasons of this great council, the 
situation of our civil constitution, and our disposition toward you, 
our Indian brothers of the Six Nations, and their allies, [Three 
strings, or a small belt.] 

" ' Brothers and Friends, now attend ! — When our fathers 
crossed the great waters and came over to this land, the King of 
England gave them a talk ; assuring them that they and their chil- 
dren should be his children, and that if they would leave their na- 
tive country and make settlements, and live here, and buy and sell, 
and trade with their brethren beyond the water, they should still 
keep hold of the same covenant chain and enjoy peace. And it 
was covenanted that the fields, houses, goods, and possessions, which 
our fathers should acquire, should remain to them as their own, and 
be their children's for ever, and at their sole disposal. 

" ' Trusting that this covenant should never be broken, our fa- 
thers came a great distance beyond the water, laid out their money 
here, built houses, cleared fields, raised crops, and through their own 
labor and industry grew tall and strong. 

" ♦ They have bought, sold, and traded with England, according to 
agreement ; sending to them such things as they wanted, and taking 
in exchange such things as are wanted here. The King of Eng 
land and his people kept the way open for more than one hundred 
years, and by our trade became richer, and by a union with us, 
greater and stronger than the other kings and people who live be- 
yond the water. 

" ' All this time they lived in great friendship with us, and we 
with them ; for we are brothers — one blood. 

" ' Whenever they were struck, we instantly felt as though the 
blow had been given to us — their enemies were our enemies. 

" ' Whenever they went to war, we sent our men to stand by 
their side and fight for them, and our money to help them and make 
them strong. That we have done this, Brothers, you have been all 
witnesses to in the last war. You know we assisted them in taking 
Niagara, Cataroqui, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Canada; and 
lastly, when they had no more enemies upon this island, we went 
to fight, and helped them to take many large islands that lay in 



APPENDIX. 



the hot countries, where they got more than thirty cart-loads of 
silver. They thanked us for our love, and sent us good tokens, and 
renewed their promise to be our people for ever ; and when the 
war was over, they said, children, we thank you that you have 
helped to make us great. We know that it has cost you a great 
deal of money ; and therefore, children, we give you a present, that 
you may maintain your warriors. 

« ' Brothers and Friends, open a kind ear. — We will now tell 
you of the quarrel betwixt the counsellors of King George and the 
habitants and colonies of America. 

" ' Many of his counsellors are proud and wicked men. They 
persuade the King to break the covenant chain, and not to send us 
any more good talks. A considerable number have prevailed upon 
him to enter into a new covenant against us, and have torn asun- 
der and cast behind their backs the good old covenant which their 
ancestors and ours entered into and took strong hold of. 

" ' They now tell us, they will slip their hands into our pocket 
without asking, as though it were their own : and at their plea- 
sure they will take from us our charters or written civil constitu- 
tion, which we love as our lives ; also our plantations, our houses, 
and goods, whenever they please, without asking our leave. That 
our vessels may go to this island in the sea, but to this or that par- 
ticular island we shall not trade any more. And, in case of our 
non-compliance with these new orders, they shut up our har- 
bors. 

" ' Brothers : — This is our present situation — thus have many of 
the King's counsellors and servants dealt with us. If we submit, 
or comply with their demands, you can easily perceive to what 
a state we will be reduced. If our people labor on the field, they 
will not know who shall enjoy the crop ; if they hunt in the 
woods, it will be uncertain who shall taste of the meat or have 
the skins ; if they build houses, they will not know whether they 
may sit round the fire with their wives and children ; they can- 
not be sure whether they shall be permitted to eat, drink, and wear 
the fruits of their own labor and industry. 

" ' Brothers and Friends of the Six Nations, attend ! — We 
upon this island have often spoke and intreated the King, and his ser- 
vants the counsellors, that peace and harmony might still continue 
between us ; that we cannot part with, or lose our hold of, the old 
covenant chain, which united our fathers and theirs ; that we want 
to brighten this chain, and keep the way open as our fathers did ; 
that we want to live with them as brothers ; labor, trade, travel 



abroad, eat and drink in peace. We have often asked them to love 
us, and Uve in such friendship with us as their fathers did with ours. 

" ' We told them again, that we judged we were exceedingly in- 
jured, that they might as well kill us as take away our property 
and the necessaries of life. We have asked why they treat us 
thus? What has become of our repeated addresses and supplica- 
tions to them ? Who hath shut the ears of the King to the cries of 
his children in America '? No soft answer — no pleasant voice from 
beyond the waters has yet sounded in our ears. 

" ' Brothers, — Thus stands the matter betwixt Old England and 
America. You, Indians, know how things are proportioned in a 
family between the father and the son — England we regard as 
the father, this island may be compared as the son. 

"' The father has a numerous family, both at home and upon this 
island ; he appoints a great number of servants to assist him in the 
government of his family ; in process of time, some of his servants 
grow proud and ill-natured — they were displeased to see the boy so 
alert, and walk on so nimbly with his pack ; they tell the father, 
and advise him to enlarge this child's pack — they prevail ; the pack 
is increased, the child takes it up again ; as he thought it might be 
the father's pleasure, speaks but few words, those very small, for he 
was loth to offend the father. Those proud and wicked servants, 
finding they had prevailed, laughed to see the boy sweat and stag, 
ger under his increased load. By and by they apply to the father 
to double the boy's pack, because they heard him complain ; and 
without any reason said they, he is a cross child, correct him if he 
complains any more. The boy intreats the father, and addresses 
the great servants in a decent manner that the pack might be light, 
ened ; he could not go any farther ; humbly asks if the old fathers, 
in any of their records, had described such a pack for the child ; 
after all the tears and intreaties of the child, the pack is redoubled ; 
the child stands a little while staggering under the weight, ready to 
fall every moment ; however, he intreats the father once more, 
though so faint he could only lisp out his last humble supplication — 
waits awhile — no voice returns. The child concludes the father 
could not hear^ — those proud servants had intercepted his supplica- 
tions or stopped the ears of the father. He therefore gives one 
struggle and throws off the pack, and says he cannot take it up 
again, such a weight will crush him down and kill him, and he 
can but die if he refuses. 

" ' Upon this, those servants are very wroth, and tell the father 
many false things respecting the child ,- they bring a great cudgel 



to the father, asking him to take it in his hand and strike the 
child. 

" ' This may serve to ilkistrate the present condition of the King's 
American subjects or children. 

" ' Amidst these oppressions, we now and then heard a molUfying 
and reviving voice from some of the King's wise counsellors, who 
are our friends and feel our distresses ; when they heard our com- 
plaints and our cries, they applied to the King ; they also told those 
wicked servants that this child in America was not a cross boy ; it 
had sufficient reason for crying ; and if the cause of its complaint 
was neglected, it would soon assume the voice of a man, plead for 
justice like a man, defend its rights, and support the old covenant 
chain of their fathers. 

" ' Brothers, listen ! — Notwithstanding all our intreaties, we 
have but little hope the King will send us any more good talks by 
reason of his evil counsellors ; they have persuaded him to send an 
army of soldiers, and many ships of war, to rob and destroy us. 
They have shut up many of our harbors, seized and taken into pos- 
session many of our vessels : the soldiers have struck the blow, 
killed some of our people ; the blood nov.' runs of the American 
children ; they have also burned our houses and towns, and taken 
much of our goods. [A black belt.] 

" ' Brothers ! — We are now necessitated to rise, and forced to 
fight, or give up our civil constitution, and run away and leave our 
farms and houses behind us. This must not be. Since the King's 
wicked counsellors will not open their ears, and consider our just 
complaints and the cause of our weeping, and have given the blow, 
we are determined to drive away the King's soldiers, and to kill 
and destroy all those wicked men we find in arms against the peace 
of the Twelve United Colonies upon this island. We think our 
cause is just ; therefore we hope God will be on our side. We do not 
take up the hatchet and struggle for honor and conquest, but to main- 
tain our civil constitution and religious privileges, the very same 
for which our forefathers left their native land and came to this 
country. [A black belt.] 

" ' Brothers and Friends ! — We desire you will hear and receive 
what we have now told you, and that you will open a good ear and 
listen to what we are now going to say. This is a family quarrel 
between us and Old England. You, Indians, are not concerned in 
it. We don't wish you to take up the hatchet against the King's 
troops. We desire you to remain at home, and not join either side ; 
but keep the hatchet buried deep. In the name and behalf of all 



our people, we ask and desire you to love peace and maintain it> 
and love and sympathize with us in our troubles ; that the path may 
be kept open with all our people and yours, to pass and re-pass with- 
out molestation. 

" ' Brothers ! — We live on the same ground with you. The 
same island is our common birthplace. We desire to sit down 
under the same tree of peace with you ; let us water its roots and 
cherish its growth, till the large leaves and nourishing branches 
shall extend to the setting sun, and reach the skies. 

" ' Brothers, observe well ! — What is it we have asked of you ? 
Nothing but peace, notwithstanding our present disturbed situation ; 
and if applicq,tion should be made to you by any of the King's 
unwise and wicked ministers to join on their side, we only advise 
you to deliberate with great caution, and in your wisdom look for- 
ward to the consequences of a compliance. For if the King's 
troops take away our property, and destroy us who are of the same 
blood with themselves, what can you, who are Indians, expect from 
them afterwards ? [A white belt.] 

" ' Brothers of the Six Nations ! — When we perceived this 
island began to shake and tremble along the Eastern shore, and the 
sun darkened by a black cloud which arose from beyond the great 
water, we kindled up a great council-fire at Philadelphia ; and we 
sat around it until it burnt clear, and so high that it illuminated 
this whole island. We renewed our hold upon the old covenant 
chain, which united and strengthened our ancestors, and which 
was near slipping out of our hands before we had kindled this 
great council-fire at Philadelphia. We have now taken fast hold, 
nor will we let it go without a mighty struggle, even unto death. 

"'Brothers: — We are now Twelve Colonies, united as one 
man. We have but one heart and one hand. Brothers, this is our 
Union Belt. By this belt, we, the Twelve United Colonies, renew 
the old covenant chain by which our forefathers, in their great wis- 
dom, thought proper to bind us and you, our brothers of the Six 
Nations, together, when they first landed at this place ; and if any 
of the links of this great chain should have received any rust, we 
now brighten it, and make it shine like silver. As God has put it 
into our hearts to love the Six Nations and their allies, we now 
make the chain of friendship so strong, that nothing but an evil 
spirit can or will attempt to break it. But we hope, through the favor 
and mercy of the Good Spirit, that it will remain strong and bright 
while the sun shines and the water runs. [Delivered the Union belt.'] 

" ' Brothers : — It is necessary, in order for the preservation of 



friendship between us and our brothers of the Six Nations, and 
their alHes, that a free and mutual intercourse be kept up betwixt 
us. Therefore the Twelve United Colonies, by this belt, remove 
every difficulty that may lie in the great road that runs through 
the middle of our country ; and we will also clear up and open all 
the small roads that lead into the great one. We will take out 
every thorn, briar, and stone, so that when any of our brothers of 
the Six Nations, or their allies, have an inclination to see and talk 
with any of their brethren of the Twelve United Colonies, they 
may pass safely without being scratched or bruised. Brothers, the 
road is now open for our brethren of the Six Nations and their 
allies, and they may now pass and repass as safely and freely as the 
Twelve United Colonies themselves ; and we are further determined, 
by the assistance of God, to keep our roads open and free for the 
Six Nations and their allies, as long as this earth remains. [Path 
belt.] 

" ' Brothers ! — We have said we wish you Indians may continue 
in peace with one another, and with us the white people. Let us 
be cautious in our behavior toward each other at this critical state 
of affairs. This island now trembles, the wind whistles from almost 
every quarter ; let us fortify our minds, and shut our ears against 
false rumors ; let us be cautious what we receive for truth, unless 
spoken by wise and good men. If any thing disagreeable should 
ever fall out between us the Twelve United Colonies, and you the 
Six Nations, to wound our peace, let us immediate!)^ seek measures 
for healing the breach. From the present situation of our affairs, 
we judge it wise and expedient to kindle up a small council-fire at 
Albany, where we may hear each other's voice, and disclose our 
minds more fully to one another." [A small belt.] 

" ' Therefore we say. Brothers, take care — hold fast to your cove- 
nant chain. You know our disposition towards you, the Six Na- 
tions of Indians, and your allies. Let this our good talk remain at 
Onondaga, your central council. house. We depend upon you to 
send and acquaint your allies to the northward, the seven tribes on 
the river St. Lawrence, that you have this talk of ours at the great 
council-fire of the Six Nations. And when you return, we invite 
your great men to come and converse farther with us at Albany, 
where we intend to re-kindle the council-fire, which your and our 
ancestors sat around in great friendship. Brothers and friends ! 

a i We greet you all, 

"'FAREWELL.'" 
[The large belt of intelligence and declaration.] 



Such was the talk transmitted to the Six Nations by the Commis- 
sioners from Congress. The process of communication to the In- 
dians, through interpreters, is very slow. Every thing must be per- 
formed with great deliberation, and the Indian language is composed 
of such lengthened compounds, that the labor of delivering and 
translating a speech is exceedingly tedious. The delivery of this talk 
from Congress occupied the business hours of two days. At the 
close, Kanaghquaesa, one of the Chiefs, replied : — 

" Brothers, — We have sat round, and smoked our pipes at this 
our ancient place of kindling up our council-fires. We have heard 
all you have said, and have heard nothing but what is pleasant 
and good. As you have communicated matters of great impor- 
tance to us, we will sit down to-morrow and deliberate coolly upon 
them ; and the day following will give you answers to every thing 
you have laid before us." 

Having convened again on the 31st of August, Little Abraham, 
the Mohawk Sachem, spoke, in answer to the Commissioners, as 
follows : — 

" Brothers, Great Men deputed by the Twelve United Co- 
lonies, ATTEND ! — We arc this day called to meet you in council, 
in order to reply to what you said to us. We hope we need not 
recapitulate the whole of your discourse. We shall only touch 
upon each head. At our last conference in this house, we promis- 
ed to return you our answer the day but one following. We did 
not do it, and we mean to make you an apology. We hope you 
liave taken no offence. We were not prepared by that time, and 
that was our reason. Brothers, you informed us that there was a 
great council of sixty-five members convened at Philadelphia, and 
that you were appointed by them to deliver a talk to the Six Na- 
lions. It seems you, our brothers, having a desire to rekindle a 
council-fire, took to your assistance the descendants of Quedar, 
and have kindled up a council-fire that sliall never be extinguished. 
To which tl>e Six Nations reply : This you have done by order of 
the great Council at Philadelphia. We are glad to hear the news.^ 
It rejoices our hearts, and it gives exceeding joy through all the 
Six Nations. 

" Brothers, — As you desired your belts might not be returned, 
but be deposited at our central Council House, we shall only make 
use of them to refresh our memories, and speak upon thera as we go 
on with our answers. Brothers, we shall not recite every pai'ticular, 
as we before mentioned. You observed, when these commotions 
first began, a council of sixty-five members convened together at 



APPENDIX. xiX 

Philadelphia ; and you put us in mind of what Cannassateego for- 
merly said at Lancaster respecting the necessity of a union amono- 
you. An old sachem, a brother of Cannassateego, is here present, 
and remembers the words of his brother. You illustrated tiie neces- 
sity and use of a union by one and twelve arrows. You said your 
grandfathers had inculcated this doctrine into their children. You 
said, that as the tree of peace was formerly planted at this place, 
you desired that the Six Nations might come down, and sit under 
it, and water its roots, till the branches should flourish and reach 
to heaven. This the Six Nations say shall be done. Brothers, 
we need only remind you of a few of the things you said to us, as 
you have them all written down. You informed us, that by an an- 
cient covenant with the King of England, you were to enjoy the 
same privileges with the people on the other side of the great wa- 
ters, that for a long time you did enjoy the same privileges, by 
which means you and your brethren over the water both became a 
great people ; that lately, by advice of evil counsellors, you are 
much oppressed, and had heavier packs put upon you than vou could 
bear ; that you have frequently applied to be eased of your burthen, 
but could obtain no redress ; that finding this the case, you had 
thrown off the packs. The Six Nations thank you for acquainting 
them with your grievances, and the methods taken to obtain redress. 
You likewise informed them of what resolutions you had formed in 
consequence of these matters. 

" Brothers, — After stating your grievances, and telling us you 
had not been able to obtain redress, you desired us to take no part, 
but bury the hatchet. You told us it was a family quarrel ; and 
therefore said, ' You Indians, sit still, and mind nothing but peace.' 
Our great man, Col. Johnson, did the same thing at Oswego : he 
desired us to sit still likewise. You likewise desired us, that if ap- 
plication should be made to us by any of the King's officers, we 
would not join them. Now, therefore attend, and apply your ears 
closely. We have fully considered this matter. The resolutions 
of the Six Nations are not to be broken or altered. When they 
resolve, the matter is fixed. This, then, is the determination of the 
Six Nations, not to take any part ; but as it is a family affair, to sit 
still and see you fight it out. We beg you will receive this as infal- 
lible, it being our full resolution ; for we bear as much affection 
for the King of England's subjects on the other side the water, as 
we do for you, born upon this island. One thing more we request, 
which is, that you represent this in a true light to the delegates 
from all the Colonies, and not varv ; and that you observe the same 
61 



XX APPENDIX. 

regard for truth when you write to the King about these matters 
for we have ears, and shall hear, if you represent any thing in a 
wrong point of hght. We Ukewise desire you would inform our 
brothers at Boston of oar determination. 

" Brothers, — It is a long time since we came to this resohition. 
It is the result of mature deliberation. It was our declaration to 
Col. Johnson. We told him we should take no part in the quarrel, 
and hoped neither side would desire it. Whoever applies first, we 
shall think in the wrong. The resolutions of the Six Nations are 
not to be broken. Of the truth of this you have a late instance. 
You know what the Shawanese have lately been engaged in. They 
applied to us for assistance, but we refused them.* Our love for 
you has induced us not to meddle. If we loved you less, we should 
have been less resolute. 

" Brothers, — You likewise informed us, that when you perceived 
this island began to tremble, and black clouds to arise beyond the 
great water, you kindled up a great fire at Philadelphia, a fire which 
shone bright and clear to your utmost settlements ; that you sat 
round that fire, deliberating what measures to pursue for the common 
good ; that while sitting round it you recollected an ancient cove- 
nant made between your fxthers and ours when they first crossed 
the great water and settled here, which covenant they first likened 
to a chain of iron. But when they considered that iron would 
rust, they made a silver chain, which they were always to rub and 
keep bright, and clear of spots. This they made so strong, that an 
evil spirit could not break it. This friendship-chain you have now 
renewed. This covenant is to continue to future generations. We 
are glad you have thought proper to renew this covenant, and the 
whole Six Nations now thank you. This covenant-belt you desire 
us to deposit at our central council-house, that future generations 
may call to mind the covenant now made between us. You may 
depend we shall send and inform all our neighboring council-fires 
of the matters now transacted. We close, with the whole Six Na- 
tions repeating their thanks that you have renewed the covenant 
made between their forefathers and yours. 

" Brothers, attend ! — As you had renewed the ancient cove- 
nant, you thought proper to open the path, and have a free com. 
munication with this place. As the fire had for some time been 
put out, the path had got stopped up. You removed all obstruc- 

* In the afTair of Col. Cresap and Logan, and the Indian war that followed, the 
Mohawks were not engaged. The Cayugas and Senecas were. 



APPENDIX. 



tions out of the great roads and paths, all stones and briars : so that 
if any of us chose to travel the road, we should neither meet with 
any obstruction, or hurt ourselves. Brothers, we thank you for 
opening the road. You likewise informed us you were determined 
to drive away, destroy, and kill all who appeared in arms against 
the peace of the Twelve United Colonies. Brothers, attend. We 
beg of you to take care of what you do. You have just now 
made a good path ; do not so soon defile it with blood. There are 
many round us. Caghnawagas, who are friends to the king. Our 
path of peace reaches quite there. We beg all that distance may 
not be defiled with blood. As for your quarrels to the Eastward, 
along the sea-coasts, do as you please. But it would hurt us to see 
those brought up in our own bosoms ill-used. In particular, we 
would mention the son of Sir William Johnson. He is born among 
us, and is of Dutch extraction by his mother. He minds his own 
affairs, and does not intermeddle in public disputes. We would 
likewise mention our father, the minister, who resides among the 
Mohawks, and was sent them by the King. He does not meddle in 
civil affairs, but instructs them in the way to heaven. He abso- 
lutely refuses to attend to any political matters, and says they do 
not belong to him. They beg he may continue in peace among 
them. The Mohawks are frequently alarmed with reports that 
their minister is to be torn away from them. It would occasion 
great disturbance was he to be taken away. The King sent him 
to them, and they would look upon it as taking away one of their 
own body. Therefore they again request that he may continue to 
live in peace among them.* 

" Brothers, — After having informed us of the situation of affairs, 
and having finished your business, you advised us to shut our ears 
against false reports, and that we should not attend to flying 
stories, but to what wise and good men should say ; for which rea- 
son you had kindled up a council-fire at this place, that we might 
always converse together, and know the truth of things. Your bro- 
thers of the Six Nations say, ' Let it be so ; it shall be as you desire.' 
They thank you for this advice, and desire you would use the same 
precautions ; that you would shut your ears to flying stories, but 
keep your eye upon the chief council, such as you see now con- 
vened. The Six Nations desire you would always inform them 
fully of what respects them. We have, for this purpose, opened our 

♦ This Missionary was the Rev. Mr. Stewart, who aflerward removed to Upper 
Canada. 



XXil APPEXDIX. 

ears and purified our minds, that we may always hear and receive 
what you have to say with good and clean minds ; and whenever 
we receive an)- important intelUgence, we shall always bring it to 
this council-fire. 

" Brothers : — You delivered us this pipe ; on one side the tree of 
peace, on the other a council-fire ; we Indians sitting on one side 
of the fire, and the representatives of the twelve United Colonies 
upon the other. You have desired that this pipe may be left at 
our central council-house, and that the tree of peace may be planted, 
and that the branches may be so high as to be visible to all our 
allies. Brothers, we thank you, and shall take care to deposit this 
where you desire, and when we meet to deliberate upon business, 
shall always use this as our council-pipe. 

" Brothers, attend ! — In the course of your speech you ob- 
served, we of the Six Nations were a wise people, and saw a great 
way before us : and you asked us, if you upon this island were con- 
quered, what would become of the Indians ? You say you are un- 
certain of holding your possessions, and that you do not know who 
may enjoy the product of your labor. Now, therefore, Brothers, 
attend ; you particularly, our Brothers of Albany ; we address our- 
selves particularly to you. Our Brothers of Albany have taken two 
pieces of land from us without any reward, not so much as a single 
pipe. We therefore desire you will restore them, and put us into 
peaceable possession again. If you refuse to do this, we shall look 
upon the prospect as bad ; for if you conquer, you will take us by 
the arm, and pull us all off. Now, therefore, as the twelve United 
Colonies have renewed this covenant of peace, we beg that there 
may be no obstruction upon your part, but that you would restore 
our lands to us ; for which, as we said before, you never paid us 
even a single pipe. 

" Brothers : — You have now finished your business, and we 
have made short replies. You have kindled up a council-fire of 
peace, and have planted a tree of peace, according to ancient cus- 
tom. We find that you have omitted one thing, which is this : — Ac- 
cording to our ancient custom, whenever a council-fire was kindled 
up, and a tree of peace planted, there was some person appointed to 
watch it. Now, as there is no person appointed to watch this tree, 
we of the Six Nations take it upon us to appoint one. Let it be 
the descendant of our ancient friend, Quedar. He has to consider 
whether he will take the charge of it, and communicate to us what, 
ever may respect it. He that watches this council-fire is to be 
provided with a wing, that he may brush off all insects that come 



APPENDIX. XXlll 

near it, and keep it clear. That is the custom at our central coun- 
cil-house. We have one appointed for that purpose. 

" Brothers : — As you have this day renewed the ancient cove- 
nant of friendship, and have again brightened the ancient chain, 
renew likewise another ancient custom respecting the regulation of 
trade. Let us have a trade at this place, and likewise at Schenec- 
tady, as it was in former times when we had hold of the old covenant. 
For then, Brothers, if our people came down with only a few 
musquash skins, we went home with glad hearts. Brothers, let it 
be so again. Let the twelve United Colonies take this into consi- 
deration." [A belt often rows of wampum.] 

Abraham, the Mohawk, having concluded, Tiahogwmido, a.n Onei- 
da sachem, succeeded him as follows : — 

" Brothers : — This is all the Six Nations have to say at present. 
They would just mention one thing more before they break up. The 
Six Nations look upon this as a very good time to speak their minds, 
as here are the representatives of the twelve United Colonies. The 
dispute between the people of New-England and Penn seems to us to 
become a serious affair, and therefore the Six Nations take upon 
them to speak their minds freely, as they address the inhabitants ot 
the whole continent.* Many years ago, at a council held in Penn- 
sylvania, when Cannassateego, that has been before mentioned, was 
present, Penn desired the Six Nations would sell him that piece of 
land known by the name of Scanandanani, or Susquehannah. The 
Indians of the Six Nations refused to sell it, saying, the great God 
would not permit them. Therefore they made him a present ot 
that land, known by the name of Scanandanani. Penn received it, 
and made them valuable presents. After this, Colonel Lydius, a 
gentleman employed by the people of Boston, treated with some of 
the Indians to get that land from them. But he never kindled up a 
council-fire upon the occasion. He spoke to them whenever he 
met them ; never with more than ten. From these he pretended to 
make a purchase of that tract. Gov. Penn, also, at the great treaty 
at Fort Stanwix, in the year 1768, desired that the land might be 
his, and distributed among the Six Nations, Shawanese and Caugh- 
nawagas, ten thousand dollars, for which they gave him a writing. 
This is an affair with which all the Six Nations are acquainted, and 
any one would lie who said they knew nothing about it. We have 
taken an opportunity to speak of this matter now, as the mind of 
the whole continent is now here." ***** 

* Referring to the long and bitter controversy between Connecticut and Penn- 
sylvania respecting the territory of Wyoming, of wliich more hereafter. 



At this point the proceedings were adjourned over to the next 
day, being the 1st of September, when the Commissioners made the 
following reply : — 

" Brothers of the Six Nations, attend ! — We yesterday 
heard with pleasure your answer to the twelve United Colonies, and 
we return thanks to the great Governor of the universe that he has 
inclined your hearts to approve and accept the brotherly love offered 
to you by the twelve United Colonies. It makes us happy to hear 
so wise and brave a people as our brothers of the Six Nations are, 
publicly declare their unalterable resolution to maintain and support 
peace and friendship with the twelve United Colonies. This, Bro- 
thers, you have said, and we sincerely believe you. Brothers, we 
requested of you Indians of the Six Nations not to interfere in our 
quarrels. We are not in the least doubtful of success, as our 
cause is just. We will live or die like men. We can raise an 
army of three hundred thousand fighting men, who are brave, and 
are determined not to part with their civil and religious privileges. 
Therefore we now repeat to you, Brothers of the Six Nations, take 
great care of the strong friendship you have now made with the 
twelve United Colonies. Let that be your care, and that only. 
Peace is what we wish to establish. 

" Brothers op the Six Nations : — You yesterday told us, that 
as the roads in your country were opened for you and your brothers 
of the twelve United Colonies to pass and repass, you desired at the 
same time that we would not stain the road with blood. Brothers, 
be assured we have no intention at present to spill blood in your 
country, and we hope it never may happen ; and it never can, pro- 
vided those wicked men, who are come so far from home in order to 
disturb the peace of the twelve United Colonies, do not appear in 
your country. But as we are determined to be free or die, we must 
pursue them until we drive them from off this island, or until they 
confirm our ancient privileges. Therefore, Brothers, rest assured, 
whatever may happen between us and our enemies, we never will 
injure or disturb the peace of the Six Nations, but preserve invaria- 
ble the friendship that is now established, even unto death. 

" Brothers : — You also desired yesterday that some of your 
friends of our blood should remain in peace, and particularly the 
missionary at Fort Hunter, who did not concern himself with the 
affairs of this world, but was earnestly engaged in conducting you 
to happiness, and instructing you in the reverence due to the great 
God who governs the universe. Brothers, such a man we love, and 
we are desirous of his remaining quiet and happy with you. We 



APPENDIX. XXV 

are also desirous that all the other missionaries, that have been en- 
gaged in the same good cause, may safely continue among you, and 
instruct you in the Gospel, which will be the means of your happi- 
ness in this world and the one to come. 

" Brothers : — As we always looked upon you. Brothers of the 
Six Nations, to be a wise and capable people in conducting business 
of every kind, we were a little surprised to hear you say that no one 
was appointed by the twelve United Colonies to attend and watch 
the fire that they have kindled up at this place ; when we have re- 
peatedly told you that they had appointed five persons, whose busi- 
ness it was to attend and preserve it bright and clear, and that two 
of those five live in this town, who would take particular care, and 
who had full authority from the twelve United Colonies, to keep the 
flame bright and clear. Brothers, for fear you should not have un- 
derstood us fully, we again acquaint you that the twelve United 
Colonies have authorized General Schuyler and Mr. Douw, both of 
this town, to keep the fire burning, that it may illuminate the whole 
country of the Six Nations, who may always see the way down to 
it, and sit in peace around it. 

" Brothers : — You yesterday desired that the trade may be 
opened at this place and at Schenectady. We also wish it, and it 
will be done ; so that you may trade as you formerly did, and be 
able to return home with your goods to your entire satisfaction. 

" Brothers : — You yesterday mentioned some matters concern- 
ing land claimed by the people of Albany, and also the land in dis- 
pute between Connecticut and Gov. Penn. We now inform you 
that we are not authorized to transact any business of that kind at 
present, but will represent the matter at the Grand Congress at 
Philadelphia. 

" Brothers : — We have now finished, and let you know the 
present that we have from the twelve United Colonies is preparing 
for you, and when it is ready we will acquaint you. Wagons shall 
be provided for you whenever you are ready to set off for Sche- 
nectady." 

Thus ended the business of the Commissioners with the Indians, 
more amicably, to all appearance, than could reasonably have been 
anticipated, when all the circumstances preceding and attending the 
negotiations are taken into consideration. There was, however, 
the " unfinished business " between the Indians and the municipality 
of Albany yet to be completed. For this purpose a council was 
arranged for the day following, September 2d, and the Commission- 
ers, on the part of the United Colonies, were again invited to attend. 



APPENDIX. 



The council was held in the Presbyterian meeting-house. The pre- 
liminaries of form having been adjusted, the Committee of the 
Common Council and citizens of Albany, delivered the following 
reply to the speech of the Oneida sachem, on the 25th of August : — 

" Brothers of the Six Nations : — We suppose it will not be 
insisted upon to repeat the whole of your speech, as we conceive it 
unnecessary, and therefore shall only take notice of the material 
parts. 

" Brothers : — You said that you was glad to see us at this place 
on the 25th August, in consequence of our invitation; and that you 
was glad to see that some sparks of the old council-fire yet remain- 
ed, and that you rejoiced, even to excess, to find it so. 

" Brothers : — We thank you for your kind congratulations and 
salutations at meeting us hero, and rejoice in the opportunity you 
have given us at this time, of meeting one another in friendship and 
peace, to talk of old times and renew our ancient treaty. 

" Brothers : — We are happy to find that you so readily accepted 
our request to come and see us, and that you have had so much pa 
tience, and behaved so orderly during your short stay among us. 

" Brothers : — At the conference of our deputies with you at the 
German Flatts, they showed you some old belts of wampum, which 
you expressed a desire to see. Here are those belts, and we hope 
even Time will not wear them out. This is the Belt given by the 
Oneida Nation, and is the old covenant between the whole Oneida 
Nation and Gorah Quedar. This is the belt that was given by the 
Indian Kayinguaraghtoh in behalf of the Six Nations. 

" Brothers attend : — In your speech, you farther observed that 
you had long since taken a resolution to take no active part in the 
present contest for liberty. We do not offer to censure you for 
your conduct ; but admire your wisdom, praise your pacific difi^osi- 
tion, and hope you will have fortitude to maintain and persevere in 
it. \A belt.] 

" Brothers : — You further said that the road to the westward, 
you heard by the bird, was to be stopped up ; this matter is beyond 
our limits. The commissioners of the twelve United Colonies hav- 
ing spoken to you at large about the roads, that they shall be left 
open, we entirely agree with them in this ; and therefore shall add 
nothing on this point, and return the belt. 

" Brothers : — You said further, and delivered us this belt ; that 
you was anxious about and concerned for your minister, Mr. Kirk- 
land ; and asked our advice about his remaining among you, who 
we do not see you should be deprived of without your consent, any 



more than the Mohawk tribe should be deprived of their missionary. 
We highly approve of your concern for the ministers of the Gospel, 
and your attachment for the pure precepts and doctrine of Christia- 
nity. But if your minister is removed, we should fear the conse- 
quence. It would certainly give occasion of jealousy to your 
Brethren, the white people, that you Indians were not well disposed. 
Therefore it is our ardent wish that they may all remain among 
you, as your teachers and instructors in virtue, piety, and true re- 
ligion ; and we hope you may benefit and profit by their instruc- 
tion. [A belt.] 

" Brothers : — Before any commissioners were appointed by the 
twelve United Colonies — from the disagreeable condition of our 
country, and the ancient friendship and alliance subsisting between 
us, commenced in the days of your ancestors and our forefathers, 
we took upon us, as the representatives of the people of the city and 
county of Albany, to give you an invitation to pay us a friendly 
visit, that we might have an opportunity of seeing you here, at the 
place where the first fire was kindled, that we might rake up the 
old ashes, and not suffer it to be extinguished, but renew the old cove- 
nant chain, and make it shine with brighter lustre. 

" Brothers : — We are happy to find from your speech, that you 
still retain that affection for us which a well-founded friendship 
will naturally produce, and which we hope, from our conduct toward 
you, is not unmerited ; and we rejoice to find that you feel for our 
distresses, and lament the unnatural quarrel of brethren, which you 
express so warmly by a desire of an amicable settlement. 

" Brothers : — Time will not permit us, at present, to mention 
to you, how, and on what occasion, the first covenant was made be- 
tween you and our forefathers. The}' had never deserted you, 
but kept their covenants and agreements with you, nor do we mean 
to act otherwise on our part. 

" Brothers : — This covenant, afterwards improved upon, was 
confirmed between you and us in the year 1G65, one year after this 
country went over to the crown of England. Since this, you have 
from time to time admitted into your chain, the Tuscaroras, and 
most, if not all, the twelve United Colonies. 

" Brothers : — There are five gentlemen commissioners, appointed 
by the twelve United Colonies, at the grand council in Philadelphia ; 
and the management of public affairs in the Indian department now 
belongs to them. These gentlemen have informed you of the nature 
of the dispute between Great Britain and this country ; and testi- 
fied their desire of keeping up the council fire between us, 
G2 



"Brothers: — We know it is customary, at the renewal of any 
covenants between us, that a present should follow ; we now make 
it known to you, that the goods you will receive of the commission, 
ers of the twelve United Colonies are partly ours ; we pay our pro- 
portionable part toward them, so that what you receive of them is 
from us also. We are the same. There is no distinction. 

" Brothers : — If our memory do not fail us, we think that when 
we invited two or three of each of our brethren of the Six Nations 
to come down here, we also desired that you would acquaint us of 
what had passed in the congress held at Oswego (which as yet we 
know nothing of.) You say, indeed, you are glad we are peaceably 
inclined as well as Col. Johnson ; but you have told us nothing else 
of what had passed there, which we had expected, and do wish that 
our brothers conceal nothing from us, especially as you called God 
to witness for the truth of what you said. 

" Brothers of the Six Nations, and you, the Mohawks in 
PARTICULAR : — We apprehend the bird Tsklelele has been busy 
again. He seems to be a mischievous bird, and ought not to be 
nourished or entertained. In your answer to the commissioners 
you addressed yourselves to the inhabitants of Albany, complaining 
that they had taken from you two peices of land without giving you 
the value of a pipe of tobacco for them ; and that you desired they 
would restore you to the peaceable possession of them, and that the 
commissioners would look into this matter and afford you relief. 
The land you speak of we suppose to be Ticonderoga. 

" Brothers : — This is a matter foreign to the business we met 
upon, (and we are not authorised nor qualified to enter upon the 
subject, it is a business that belongs to the corporation of Albany) 
yet as we may be considered the representatives of the people at 
large, our entire silence may be construed into guilt of the heavy 
charge fixed upon us. For your satisfaction as well as of the au- 
dience, we will endeavor to show by a few remarks that the accu- 
sation is groundless. The lands alluded to are granted by the char- 
ter of Albany. We never heard that any of your nation have been 
dispossessed or driven off those lands ; but you hitherto have and 
still enjoy those lands without the least interruption. 

" Brothers : — As we observed before, the matter cannot pro- 
perly come before us, but belongs to another body ; and therefore 
the application to us is improper. However, give us leave to say, 
that, instead of complaining, we think the Mohawks, if they con- 
sidered their own interest and that of their posterity, and would be 
candid, must acknowledge the truth of the fact, and rejoice at this 



APPENDIX. 



day, that they have had such faithful guardians and trustees, for if 
it had not been so, who would have enjoyed those lands now ? There 
have been complaints concerning this matter before, and inquiries 
into it before proper tribunals ; and for your information, and that 
of the curious, we refer to the proceedings of the House of Assembly 
of this Colony, and also to the minutes taken on a conference be- 
tween the corporation of this city and yourselves, at which Sir 
William Johnson was present, and therefore return you the belt. 

After consultation, the Indians returned the following answer by 
Abraham, chief of the Mohawks : — 

" Brothers of Albany : — We return you thanks for your 
speech, and that you have informed us that the twelve United Co- 
lonies by their commissioners, have opened all the roads ; and we 
now take it for granted that the communications at Fort Stanwix are 
not to be shut up, and that the New England people never will do 
it. This, Brethren, has been the occasion of some anxiety in the 
minds of the Six Nations. 

" Brothers of the Six Nations, attend ; You also the people 
of Albany, and you the twelve United Colonies by your commission- 
ers : — Last spring Col. Johnson informed us that the New Eng- 
land people were near him to take him prisoner. Upon which we, 
like people intoxicated, took up our guns and ran to assist him, as 
he was our superintendant. But, Brethren, as it happened in the 
manner before mentioned, we hope you will look upon it in that 
light. We, the Six Nations, have now made and renewed our an- 
cient covenants. The proceedings just now mentioned have 
brought me down. I have made a proper acknowledgment to the 
Six Nations, and now do the same to you, and I hope you will raise 
me up again. The news I was just speaking of, came not from a 
bird, but from your own people. 

" Brothers of Albany, farther attend : — I shall only make 
a short reply to your speech relating to the lands. Many agreeable 
things are therein. You farther say, that you never heard that any 
of us were driven from those lands. There is one thing which is not 
so agreeable. It is the Tskleleli. You, Brothers, know how that 
matter is, and in case I was to answer that part of your speech, it 
might perhaps draw us into an argument ; — and as you are not, as 
you say, the proper body to which we ought to have applied, and as 
you have referred us to former proceedings, we shall close. 

Brothers of Albany : — We the Six Nations now tell you, that 
it is at your pleasure to call on us, and we will inform you of what 
passed in the congress at Oswego. 



Taking the hint that the Indians would say nothing except in 
due form, the chairman of the committee immediately said : — 

"Brothers of tite Six Nations : — We are now ready to hear 
it, and should be glad you would inform us." 

The Mohawk chief then proceeded : — 

" Brothers of Albany : — You sent for us to inform you of 
what passed at Oswego ; — but you have not, since we have been 
down, desired it. We have been always ready ; and as you have 
now asked us, we will now tell you, and think it our duty, as we 
look upon it that God will punish us should we conceal any thing 
from you. 

" Brothers : — The transactions of that treaty were very public. 
The Shawanese were there, and some from Detroit. Mr. Jonnson 
told us, that the fire kindled there was a fire of peace, that all the 
white people were the king's subjects, and that it seemed they were 
intoxicated. Mr. Johnson also told us, that the white people were 
all got drunk, and that God's judgment hung over them, but did not 
know on which side it would fall. Mr. Johnson farther told us, 
that the council-fire was kindled on account of the present dispute, 
and desired us not to interfere, as they were Brothers, and begged us 
to sit still and maintain peace. This is what Colonel Johnson told 
us at that council-fire. He also said he had his eye on Mr. 
Kirkland ; that he was gone to Philadelphia and along the sea- 
coast ; that he was become a great soldier and a leader. Is this 
your minister? says he. Do you think your minister minds your 
souls ? No, by the time he comes to Philadelphia, he will be a 
great warrior, and when he returns he will be the chief of all the 
Five Nations. 

" Brothers : — There were present five people of Detroit, five 
from Caughnawaga, and two of the Shawanese. Col. Johnson 
told them, that by the time he returned from Canada, they should 
have all their men there, and he would then kindle a council-fire ; 
and he would also desire them not to take any part in this dispute, 
as it was a quarrel betv/een brothers. Mr. Johnson also told them 
that this councihfire was kindled upon peace, and that it seemed, 
by reason of the white people's intoxication, that God's judgment 
hung over them. He also told us that he was going to the Go- 
vernor of Canada, who was of a different opinion from him, but 
would talk with him ; and he farther said that he would tell the 
Caughnawaga Indians the same he told us, and for that purpose de- 
sired that two of each nation might go along, and hear it. He 
likewise desired us to consider which way we would have our trade, 



whether up this river, or from Canada. He at the same time as- 
sured us, that we should not suffer for want of goods, as we were 
not concerned, nor had any hand in the present dispute. He also 
mentioned something about the council-fires. He said there are 
two fires which you shall keep your eyes upon, and if they call you 
down to Albany, do not you go, for they will deceive you, and tell you 
a great many fine stories. We are very glad that your language 
and Col. Johnson's so well agrees." 

Thus ended this grand council with the Six Nations, and the 
last council ever held at Albany, with the great aboriginal confe- 
deracy which has been denominated the Roman Republic of the 
Indian world. 



No. HI. 



[Reference FRoai Page 231.] 

By Barry St. Leger, Esq., 

Commander-in-chief of a chosen body of troops from the grand 
army, as well as an extensive corps of Indian allies from all the na- 
tions, &,c. &c. 

The forces entrusted to my command are designed to act in 
concert, and upon a common principle, with the numerous armies 
and fleets which already display, in every quarter of America, the 
power, justice, and, when properly sought, the mercy of the King. 

The cause in which the British arms are thus exerted, applies to 
the most affecting interest of the human heart, and the military ser- 
vants of the Crown, at first called forth for the sole purpose of re- 
storing the rights of the constitution, now combine with love of 
their country and duty to their sovereign, the other extensive in- 
citements which spring from a due sense of the general privileges 
of mankind. To the eyes and ears of the temperate part of the 
public, and to the breast ot' suffering thousands in the provinces, be 
the melancholy appeal, whether the present unnatural rebellion has 
not been made a foundation for the completest system of tyranny 
that ever God in his displeasure suffered for a time to be exercised 
over a froward and stubborn generation. Arbitrary imprisonment, 
confiscation of property, persecution and torture unprecedented in 
the inquisitions of the Romish Church, are among the palpable 
enormities that verify the affirmative. These are inflicted by As- 



XXXll APPENDIX. 

semblies and Committees, who dare to profess themselves friends 
to liberty, upon the most quiet subjects, without distinction of age 
or sex, for the sole crime, often for the sole suspicion, of having ad- 
hered in principle to the government under which they were born, 
and to which by every tie, divine and human, they owe allegiance. 
To consummate these shocking proceedings, the profanation of re- 
ligion is added to the most profligate prostitution of common rea- 
son ; the consciences of men are set at nought ; and multitudes are 
compelled, not only to bear arms, but also to swear subjection to an 
usurpation they abhor. 

Animated by these considerations ; at the head of troops in the 
full powers of health, discipline and valor, determined to strike 
when necessary, and anxious to spare when possible ; I by these pre- 
sents invite and exhort all persons, in all places where the progress 
of this army may point, and by the blessing of God I will extend it 
far, to maintain such a conduct as may justify me in protecting 
their lands, habitations, and families. The intention of this ad- 
dress is to hold forth security, not depredation, to the country. 

To those whom spirit and principle may induce to partake the 
glorious task of redeeming their countrymen from dungeons, and re- 
establishing the blessings of legal government, I offer encourage- 
ment and employment; and upon the first intelligence of their asso- 
ciations, I will find means to assist their undertakings. The domes- 
tic, the industrious, the infirm, and even the timid inhabitants, I am 
desirous to protect, provided they remain quietly at their houses ; 
that they do not suffer their cattle to be removed, nor their corn or 
forage to be secreted or destroyed ; that they do not break up their 
bridges or roads ; nor by any other acts, directly or indirectly, en- 
deavor to obstruct the operations of the king's troops, or supply or 
assist those of the enemy. 

Every species of provision brought to my camp will be paid for 
at an equitable rate and in solid coin. If, notwithstanding these 
endeavors and sincere/ inclinations to effect them, the frenzy of 
hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes 
of God and man, in denouncing and executing the vengeance of the 
State against the wilful outcasts. Tlie messengers of justice and of 
wrath await them in the field, and devastation, famine, and every 
concomitant horror that a reluctant but indispensable prosecution 
of military duty must occasion, will bar the way to their return. 

Barry St. Leger. 

By order of the Commander-in-chief, 

Will. Osb. Hamilton, Secretary. 



No. IV. 

[Reference from Page 241.] 

The fury and cruelty of the Indians and Tories at and imme- 
diately after the battle of Oriskany, is strongly set forth in the fol- 
lowing affidavit, the original of which is now in the office of the 
Secretary of State, Albany. Dr. Younglove died about fifteen 
years since in the city of Hudson. He was known to the author 
as a respectable man, though of strong feelings and prejudices. 
Any statement of this kind, from a man of his temperament, would 
be likely to receive a strong coloring, without, however, any de- 
signed misstatement of facts. 

" Moses Younglove, Surgeon of General Herkimer's brigade of mi- 
litia, deposeth and saith, that being in the battle of said militia 
above Oriskany on the 6th of August last, toward the close of said 
battle he surrendered himself a prisoner to a savage, who imme- 
diately gave him up to a sergeant of Sir John Johnson's regiment ; 
soon after which, a Lieutenant in the Indian department came up 
in company with several other tories, when said Mr. Grinnis by 
name, drew his tomahawk at this deponent, and with a deal of per- 
suasion was hardly prevailed on to spare his life. He then plun- 
dered him of his watch, buckles, spurs, &;c. ; and other tories fol- 
lowing his example, stripped him almost naked with a great many 
threats, while they were stripping and massacreing prisoners on 
every side. That this deponent, on being brought before Mr. But- 
ler. Sen. who demanded of him what he was fighting for ; to which 
this deponent answered, " he fought for the liberty that God and 
Nature gave him, and to defend himself and dearest connexions 
from the massacre of savages." To which Butler replied, " you 
are a damned impudent rebel ;" and so saying, immediately turned 
to the savages, encouraging them to kill him, and if they did not, 
the deponent and the other prisoners should be hanged on a gal- 
lows then preparing. That several prisoners were then taken for- 
ward toward the enemy's head-quarters with frequent scenes of 
horror and massacre, in which tories were active as well as sa- 
vages ; and in particular one Davis, formerly known in Tryon 
County on the Mohawk river. That Lieut. Singleton, of Sir John 
Johnson's regiment, being wounded, entreated the savages to kill 



the prisoners, which they accordingly did, as nigh as this deponent 
can judge, about six or seven. 

" That Isaac Paris, Esq., was also taken the same road, without 
receiving from them any remarkable insult except stripping, until 
some tories came up, who kicked and abused him ; after which the 
savages, thinking him a notable oftender, murdered him barbarous, 
ly. That those of the prisoners who were delivered up to the pro. 
vost guards, were kept without victuals for many days, and had 
neither clothes, blankets, shelter, nor fire ; while the guards were 
ordered not to use any violence in protecting the prisoners from 
the savages, who came every day in large companies with knives, 
feeling of the prisoners, to know who were fattest. That they 
dragged one of the prisoners out of the guard with the most lament, 
able cries ; tortured him for a long time ; and this deponent was in- 
formed, by both tories and Indians, that they ate him, as appears 
they did another on an island in Lake Ontario, by bones found 
there nearly picked, just after they had crossed the lake with the 
prisoners. That the prisoners who were not delivered up, were 
murdered in considerable numbers from day to day round the camp, 
some of them so nigh that their shrieks were heard. That Capt. 
Martin, of the batteaux-men, was delivered to the Indians at Oswe- 
go, on pretence of his having kept back some useful intelligence. 
That this deponent during his imprisonment, and his fellows, were 
kept almost starved for provisions ; and what they drew, were of the 
worst kind, such as spoiled flour, biscuit full of maggots, and mouldy, 
and no soap allowed, or other method of keeping clean ; and were 
insulted, struck, &c. without mercy by the guards, without any 
provocation given. That this deponent v^as informed by several 
sergeants orderly on Gen. St. Leger, that twenty dollars were of- 
fered in general orders for every American scalp. 

MOSES YOUNGLOVE. 

JOHN BARCLAY, 

Chairman oJMbany Committee.'^ 



No. V. 

[Reference from Page 249.] 

The following is a copy of the letter addressed to Colonel Ganse- 
voort, while under duress in the camp of General St. Leger, by 
Colonel Bellinger and Major Frey : — 



« 9 o'clock P. M. — Camp before Fort Stanwix, > 
6th August, 1777. ] 
"Sra, 

« It is with concern we are to acquaint you that this was the 
fatal day in which the succors, which ^Vere intended for your 
relief, have been attacked and defeated, with great loss of numbers 
killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. Our regard for your safety 
and lives, and our sincere advice to you is, if you will avoid inevit- 
table ruin and destruction, to surrender the fort you pretend to de- 
fend against a formidable body of troops and a good train of artil- 
lery, which we are witnesses of: when, at the same time, you have 
no farther support or relief to expect. We are sorry to inform you 
that most of the principal officers are killed ; to wit — Gen. Herki- 
mer, Colonels Cox, Seeber, Isaac Paris, Captain Graves, and many 
others too tedious to mention. The British army from Canada 
being now perhaps before Albany, the possession of which place of 
course includes the conquest of the Mohawk river and this fort." 

The following endorsement is on the back of this letter. " Gen. 
St. Leger, on the day of the date of this letter, made a verbal sum- 
mons of the fort by his Adjutant General and Colonel Butler, and 
who then handed this letter ; when Colonel Gansevoort refused any 
answer to a verbal summons, unless made by General St. Leger 
himself, but at the mouth of his cannon.'" 

[In regard to the battle of Oriskany, to which theprecedins note refers, the authof 
has received an interesting anecdote from Mr. John S. dnackenboss, of Montgomery 
county, which would have formed a page in the chapter containing an account of 
that battle had it come to hand in season. The father of the author's correspondent, 
Abraham D. Cluackenboss, resided in the Mohawk country on the south side of the 
river, at the breaking out of the war. Living as it were among the Indians, bespoke 
their language as well as he did hia own. Among them he had a friend, named 
Bronkahorse— who, though an Indian, had been his playmate, and they had served 
in the French war together under Sir William Johnson. When the revolutionary 
troubles came on, Bronkahorse called upon Cluackenboss, and endeavored to per- 
suade him to espouse the cause of the King — assuring him that their Great Father 
could never be conquered. Cluackenboss refused, and they parted — the Indian, 
however, assuring him that they were parting as friends, although, since ihey had 
fought in one war together, he had hoped they might do so in the other. Mr. d. saw 
no more of liis friend until the battle of Ori^-kany. During the thickest of the fight,, 
he heard his name called, in the well-known voice of Bronkahorse, from behind a 
large tree near by. He was himself sheltered by a tree ; but in looking out for the 
warrior, he saw his Indian friend. The latter now importuned Cluackenboss to sur- 
render, assuring him of kind treatment and protection, but also assuring him that 
unless he did so, he would inevitably be killed. Cluackenboss refused, and the In-^ 
dian thereupon attempted to kill him. For a moment they watched each other, each 
endeavoring to obtain the first and best chance of a shot. The Indian at length fired, 
and his ball struck the tree, but had nearly been fatal. Sprinsing from his covert 
upon the Indian, Cluackenboss then fired, and his friend Bronkahorse fell dead on 
the spot. It was the belief of Mr. dnackenboss that the loss of the enemy during 
that battle equalled that of Herkimer's command. The latter suffered the most se- 
merely in the early part of the engagement — the enemy in the latter part] 
()3 



APPENDIX. 



No. VI. 

[Reference from Page 252.] 

" Camp hefore Fort Stanwix, August 9, 1777 
« Sir, 

" Agreeable to your wishes, I have the honor to give you on pa- 
per, the message of yesterday, though I cannot conceive, expUcit 
and humane as it was, how it could admit of more than one con- 
struction. After the defeat of the reinforcement and the fate of 
all your principal leaders, in which, naturally, you built your 
hopes ; and having the strongest reason from verbal intelligence, 
and the matter contained in the letters which fell into my hands, 
and knowing thoroughly the situation of General Burgoyne's army, 
to be confident you are without resource — in my fears and tenderness 
for your personal safety from the hands of Indians enraged for the 
loss of some of their principal and most favourite leaders — I called to 
council the chiefs of all the nations ; and after having used every 
method that humanity could suggest to soften their minds, and lead 
them patiently to bear their own losses by reflecting on the irre- 
trievable misfortune of their enemies, I at last labored the point 
my humanity wished for ; which the chiefs assured me of the next 
morning, after a consultation with each nation, that evening, at 
their fire-places. Their answer, in its fullest extent, they insisted 
should be carried by Col. Butler, which he has given in the most 
categorical manner. You are well acquainted that Indians never 
send messages without accompanying them with menaces on non- 
compliance, that a civilized enemy would never think of doing ; 
you may rest assured, therefore, that no insult was meant to be of- 
fered to your situation, by the king's servants, in the message they 
peremptorily demanded to be carried by Col. Butler. 

" I am now to repeat what has been told you by my Adjutant Ge- 
neral ; 'That provided you will deliver up your garrison, with 
every thing as it stood at the moment the first message was sent, 
your people shall be treated with every attention that a humane 
and generous enemy can give.' 

" I have the honor to be, Sir, 

" Your most obedient, humble Servant, 
" Barry St. Legeb, 
" Brig. Gen. of his Majesty's forces." 



" p. S. — I expect an immediate answer, as the Indians are ex- 
tremely impatient ; and if this proposal is rejected, I am afraid it 
will be attended with very fatal consequences, not only to you and 
your garrison, but the whole country down the Mohawk river — 
such consequences as will be very repugnant to my sentiments of 
humanity, but after this entirely out of my power to prevent. 

" Barry St. Legek." 
"Col. Gansevoort, commanding Fort Stanwix." 



No. VII. 

[Reference from Page 253.] 

" Camp before Fort Stanwix. August 13, 1777. 
" To the Inhabitants of Tryon County. 

" Notwithstanding the many and great injuries we have re- 
ceived in person and property at your hands, and being at the head 
of victorious troops, we most ardently wish to have peace restored 
to this once happy country ; to obtain which, we are willing and 
desirous, upon a proper submission on your parts, to bury in obli- 
vion all that is past, and hope that you are, or will be, convinced in 
the end that we were your friends and good advisers, and not such 
wicked, designing men, as those who led you into error, and almost 
total ruin. You have, no doubt, great reason to dread the resent, 
ment of the Indians, on account of the loss they sustained in the 
late action, and the mulish obstinacy of your troops in this gar- 
rison, who have no resource but in themselves ; for which reasons 
the Indians declare, that if they do not surrender the garrison with- 
out further opposition, they will put every soul to death, — not only 
the garrison, but the whole country, — without any regard to age, sex, 
or friends ; for which reason it is become your indispensable duty, 
as you must answer the consequences, to send a deputation of 
your principal people, to oblige them immediately to what, in a 
very little time, they must be forced, — the surrender of the garrison ; 
in which case we will engage, on the faith of Christians, to protect 
you from the violence of the Indians. 

Surrounded as you are by victorious armies, one half (if not the 
greater part) of the inhabitants friends to government, without any 



resource, surely you cannot hesitate a moment to accept the terms 
proposed to you by friends and well-wishers to the country. 

John Johnson, ^ 

D. W. Claus, > Superintendents. 

John Butler, ) 



No. VIII. 
[Reference from Page 256.] 

'• By the Hon. Benedict Arnold, Esq. Major-general and Com. 

mander-in-chief of the army of the United States of America on the 

Mohawk River, 

" Whereas a certain Barry St. Leger, a Brigadier-general in 
the service of George of Great Britain, at the head of a ban- 
ditti of robbers, murderers, and traitors, composed of savages of 
America, and more savage Britons, (among whom is the noted Sir 
John Johnson, John Butler, and Daniel Glaus,) have lately appeared 
in the frontiers of this State, and have threatened ruin and destruc- 
tion to all the inhabitants of the United States. They have also, 
by artifice and misrepresentation, induced many of the ignorant and 
unwary subjects of these States to forfeit their allegiance to the 
same, and join with them in their atrocious crimes, and parties of 
treachery and parricide. 

" Humanity to those poor deluded wretches, who are hastening 
blindfold to destruction, induces me to offer them, and all others 
concerned, (whether Savages, Germans, Americans, or Britons,) 
PARDON, provided they do, within ten days from the date hereof, 
come in and lay down their arms, sue for protection, and swear al- 
legiance to the United States of America. 

" But if, still blind to their own interest and safety, they obsti- 
nately persist in their wicked courses, determined to draw on them- 
selves the just vengeance of heaven and of this exasperated coun- 
try, they must expect no mercy from either. 

" B. Arnold, M. G. 

" Given under my hand, Head-quariers, German Flatts, 20th 
August, 1777." 



No. IX. 
[Reference from Page 274.] 

Extracts from Mad. de RiedeseVs account of her Residence in America. 

When the army broke up, on the 11th of September, 1777, I was 
at first told that I must remain behind ; but on my repeated en- 
treaties, and as otlier ladies had been permitted to follow the army, 
the same indulgence was extended to me. We advanced by short 
journeys, and went through many toils ; yet I would have pur- 
chased at any price the privilege thus granted to me of seeing daily 
my husband. I had sent back my baggage, and only kept a small 
bundle of summer dresses. In the beginning, all went well ; we 
thought that there was little doubt of our being successful, and of 
reaching "the promised land;" and when, on the passage across the 
Hudson, general Burgoyne exclaimed, " Britons never retrograde," 
our spirits rose mightily. I observed, however, with surprise, that the 
wives of the officers were beforehand informed of all the military 
plans ; and I was so much the more struck with it, as I remembered 
with how much secresy all dispositions were made in the armies of 
Duke Ferdinand during the seven-years' war.* Thus the Ameri- 
cans anticipated our movements, and expected us wherever we ar- 
rived : and this of course injured our affairs. On the 19th of 
September, an action took place, which ended to our advantage ; 
but we were, in consequence, obliged to halt at a place called Free- 
man's Farm. I witnessed the whole action, and knowing that my 
husband was among the combatants, I was full of anxiety and care, 
and trembled at every shot — and nothing escaped my ear. I saw 
a great number of wounded, and, what was still worse, three of them 
were brought into the house where I was. One of them was a Ma- 
jor Harnage, whose wife was with us ; the second, a lieutenant, 

* Lieutenant Auburey made a similar remark when the army was yet in Cana- 
da: " We have more dangerous enemies at home than any we have to encounter 
abroad ; for all tlie transactions that are to take place, are publicly known long 
before they are officially given out in orders ; and I make no doubt but you will be 
as much surprised as the General (Burgoyne) was, when I tell you that the whole 
operations of the ensuing campaign were canvassed for several days before he ar- 
rived, who, no doubt, supposed, that in giving out his orders, he was communicating 
an entire secret."— [Montreal, May 20th, 1777. Vol. 1, p. 203.] 

Great secresy, observes the same writer, was, on the contrary, observed in tho 
American army. 



Xl APPENDIX. 

whose wife was of our acquaintance ; and the third, a young Eng- 
lish officer called Young. The Major occupied, with his wife, a 
room close by to that where I was. He had received a shot through 
his body, and suffered exquisite pains. A kw days after our ar- 
rival, I heard groans in another room, and was told that the young 
officer, whom I have just mentioned, was lying there, and that his 
recovery was very doubtful. I took much interest in him, as a fa- 
mily of his name had shown me great kindness during my stay in 
England. He expressed a great desire to see his benefactress, for 
so he called me. 1 went into his room, and found him on a thin 
bed of straw, for he had lost his whole baggage. He was eighteen 
or nineteen years old, an only son, and the nephew of the same Mr. 
Young I had known in England. He lamented for his parents' 
sake, but said nothing of his sufferings. He had lost much blood, 
and the surgeon advised him to submit to the amputation of his 
wounded leg ; but he would not consent to it, though the limb had 
become gangrenous. I sent him pillows and blankets, and my maids 
gave him their mattress. I took more and more care of him, and 
visited him daily ; for which he thanked me a thousand times. At 
last the amputation took place ; but it was too late, and he died a 
few days afterwards. My room being close to his, and the walls 
very thin, 1 heard his last moans. 

I occupied a tolerably good house, and had a large room. The 
door and the wainscot were of cedar, a sort of wood which is found 
in abundance here : insects are driven away by the smell of it 
when it is burned, and it is often used for that purpose ; but some 
people believe that the smoke of it is injurious to the nerves, and 
principally to females in certain situations. 

For our farther march, I had caused a calash to be made for me, 
in which I could take, not only my children, but also my two fe- 
male attendants : and thus I followed the army in the midst of the 
troops, who were in great spirits, and sang and longed for victory. 
We marched through endless forests, and a beautiful district, 
though deserted by the inhabitants, who ran away at our approach 
to reinforce General Gates's army. They are naturally soldiers and 
excellent marksmen, and the idea of fighting for their country and 
their liberty increased their innate courage. My husband was en- 
camped with the rest of the army : being myself an hour's ride be- 
hind the army, I went every morning to pay him a visit in the 
camp, and sometimes I dined there with him, but generally he took 
his dinner in my quarters. There were daily skirmishes with the 
enemy, generally of little importance. But my husband could never 



^ 



APPENDIX. Xli 

sleep without his clothes. The weather having already grown rouwh- 
er, Colonel Williams of the artillery thought our mutual visits were 
rather too fatiguing for us, and proposed to have a house built for 
me with a chimney, which should not cost more than five or six 
guineas, and which I could uninterruptedly inhabit. I accepted of 
his offer ; and the building, which was to be about twenty feet 
square, was begun. Such a dwelling is called a block-house, for 
which logs nearly of equal diameter are put together ; and if the 
interstices are filled up with clay, it is not only very solid, but very 
warm. I was to take possession of it on the next day : and I re- 
joiced in it the more, as the nights were damp and cold, and it beino- 
close to the camp, my husband would be able to be with me. But 
all at once, on the 7th of October, he marched away with the 
whole staff, and then our misfortunes began. While breakfasting 
with my husband, I heard that something was under contemplation. 
General Fraser, and, I believe. Generals Burgoyne and Philips, were 
to dine with me on that day. I remarked much movement in the 
camp. My husband told me that it was a mere reconnoissance ; 
and as this was frequent, I was not much alarmed at it. On my 
way homeward I met a number of Indians, armed with guns, and 
clad in their war dresses. Having asked them where they were 
going, they replied, " War, war ;" by which they meant that they were 
about to fight. This made me very uneasy, and I had scarcely got 
home before I heard reports of guns ; and soon the fire became 
brisker, till at last the noise grew dreadful, upon which I was more 
dead than alive. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, instead of 
guests whom I had expected to dine with me, I saw one of them, 
poor General Fraser, brought upon a hand-barrow, mortally wound- 
ed. The table, which was already prepared for dinner, was imme- 
diately removed, and a bed placed in its stead for the General. I 
sat, terrified and trembling, in a corner. The noise grew more 
alarming, and I was in a continual tremor while thinking that my 
husband might soon also be brought in, wounded like General 
Fraser. That poor General said to the surgeon, " tell me the truth : 
is there no hope f His wound was exactly like that of Major 
Harnage ; the ball had passed through his body, but, unhappily for 
the General, he had that morning eaten a full breakfast, by which 
the stomach was distended, and the ball, as the surgeon remarked, 
passed directly through it. I heard often, amidst his groans, such 
words as these, " O bad ambition ! poor General Burgoyne ! poor Mis- 
tress Fraser.^'' Prayers were read, after which he desired that Ge- 
neral Burgoyne should be requested to have him buried the next 



Xlii APPENDIX. 

day, at six o'clock in the evening, on a hill where a breast-work had 
been constructed. I knew not what to do : the entrance and all 
the rooms were full of sick, in consequence of the dysentery which 
prevailed in the camp. At length, toward evening, my husband 
came ; and from that moment my affliction was much soothed, and 
I breathed thanks to God. He dined with me and theaids-de-camp 
in great haste, in an open space in the rear of the house. We poor 
females had been told that our troops had been victorious ; but I 
well saw, by the melancholy countenance of my husband, that it 
was quite the contrary. On going away, he took me aside to tell 
me every thing went badly, and that I should prepare myself to de- 
part, but without saying any thing to any body. Under the pre- 
tence of removing the next day to my new lodgings, I ordered the 
baggage to be packed up. Lady Ackland's tent was near ours. 
She slept there, and spent the day in the camp. On a sudden she 
received news that her husband was mortally wounded and taken 
prisoner. She was much distressed ; we endeavored to persuade 
her that the wound was not so dangerous, but advised her to ask 
permission to join her husband, to take care of him in his sickness. 
She was much attached to him, though he was rude and intempe- 
rate ; yet he was a good officer. She was a lovely woman. I di- 
vided the night between her whom I wished to comfort, and my 
children who were asleep, but who, I feared, might disturb the poor 
dying General. He sent me several messages to beg my pardon for 
the trouble he thought he gave me. About 3 o'clock I was in- 
formed that he could not live much longer, and as I did not wish to 
be present at his last struggle, I wrapped my children in blankets, 
and retired into the entrance hall. At 8 o'clock in the morning he 

expired. 

***** * **** 

Orders had already been issued that the army should break up 
immediately after the funeral, and our calashes were ready. I was 
unwilling to depart sooner. Major Harnage, though hardly able 
to walk a step, left his bed, that he might not remain in the hos- 
pital, upon which a flag of truce had been erected. When he saw 
me thus in the midst of danger, he drove my children and female 
attendants into the vehicle, and told me that I had not a moment to 
lose. I begged to be permitted to remain a little longer. " Do 
what you please," replied he ; " but your children I must at least 
save." This touched my most tender feelings : I sprang into the 
carriage, and at 8 o'clock we departed. 

Profound silence had been recommended to us ; large fires were 



APPENDIX. xliii 

lighted, and many tents were left untouched, to conceal our move- 
ment from the enemy. We proceeded on our way the whole nio-ht. 
Frederica was afraid, and began to cry : I was obliged to press a 
handkerchief to her mouth. 

We were halted at six o'clock in the morning, to our general 
amazement. General Burgoyne ordered the artillery to be drawn up 
in a line; and to have it counted. This gave much dissatisfaction, 
as a few marches more would have ensured our safety. My bus- 
band was exhausted by fatigue, and took a seat in the calash, where 
my maids made room for him ; and he slept for three hours upon 
my shoulder. In the mean time Captain Willoe brought me his 
pocket-book, containing bank notes, and Captain Geismar, a beauti- 
ful watch, a ring, and a well-provided purse, requesting me to keep 
them, which I promised to do to the last. At leno-th we recom- 
menced our march ; but scarcely an hour had elapsed before the 
army was again halted, because the enemy was in sight. They 
were but two hundred in number, who came to reconnoitre, and 
who might easily have been taken had not General Burgoyne lost 
all his presence of mind. The rain fell in torrents. Lady Ack- 
land had caused her tent to be fixed up, I again suggested to her 
the propriety of rejoining her husband, to whom she might be of 
great service in his present situation. Yielding to my advice, she 
sent a message to General Burgoyne, through his aid-de-camp 
Lord Petersham, to beg his permission to leave the army. I told 
her that she need only insist upon it, and she would certainly suc- 
ceed. The Rev. Mr. Brudenel accompanied her, and they went 
together in a boat, with a flag of truce, to the enemy. There is a 
well-known and fine engraving of that event. I afterward met 
with lady Ackland at Albany, when her husband was almost 
entirely recovered ; and both thanked me for my advice. On the 
9th, it rained terribly the whole day ; nevertheless we kept our- 
selves ready to march. The savages had lost their courage, and 
they walked off" in all directions. The least untoward event made 
them dispirited, especially when there was no opportunity for 

plunder. 

********** 

We reached Saratoga about dark, which was but half an hour's 
march from the place where we had spent the day. I was quite 
wet, and was obliged to remain in that condition for want of a 
place to change my apparel. I seated myself near the fire, and 
undressed the children, and we then laid ourselves upon some straw. 
I asked General Phillips, who came to see how I was, why we did 
64 



Xliv APPENDIX. 

not continue our retreat, my husband having pledged himself to co- 
ver the movement, and to bring off the army In safety. " My poor 
lady," said he, "you astonish me. Though quite wet, you have so 
much courage as to wish to go farther in this weather. What a 
pity it is that you are not our commanding general ! He com- 
plains of fatigue, and has determined upon spending the night here, 
and giving us a supper." It is very true that General Burgoyne 
liked to make himself easy, and that he spent half his nights In 
singing and drinking, and diverting himself with the wife of a com- 
missary, who was his mistress, and who was as fond of Champaign 
as himself. I refreshed myself at 7 o'clock the next morning, (the 
10th of October,) with a cup of tea, and we all expected that we 
should soon continue our march. General Burgoyne had given 
orders to set fire to General Schuyler's fine buildings and mills at 
Saratoga, for the purpose of securing our retreat. An English 
officer brought me some good soup, and insisted that I should par- 
take of it. After this, we continued our march ; but only for a 
short time. There was much misery and disorder In the army. 
The commissaries had forgotten to distribute provisions, though we 
had an abundance of cattle. I saw more than thirty officers, who 
complained bitterly of hunger. I gave them coffee and tea, and 

every thing eatable that I had in my calash. 

********** 

Our calashes remained in readiness to depart. Every body ad- 
vised a retreat, and my husband pledged himself to effect that 
movement, if no time was lost. But General Burgoyne, who had 
been promised an Order, If he should effect his junction with Ge- 
neral Howe, could not be persuaded to It, and lost every thing by 
his dilatorlness. About 2 o'clock we heard again a report of mus- 
kets and cannon, and there was much alarm and bustle among our 
troops. My husband sent me word that I should Immediately re- 
tire Into a house which was not far off. I got into my calash with 
my children ; and when we were near the house, I saw, on the oppo- 
site bank of the Hudson, five or six men, who aimed at us with 
their guns. Without knowing what I did, I threw my children 
into the back part of the vehicle, and laid myself upon them. At 
the same moment the fellows fired, and broke the arm of a poor 
English soldier, who stood behind us, and who, being already 
wounded, sought a shelter. Soon after our arrival a terrible can- 
nonade began, and the fire was principally directed against the 
house, where we had hoped to find a refuge, probably because the 
enemy inferred, from the great number of people who went towards it, 



APPENDIX. Xlv 

that this was the head-quarters of the Generals, while, in reality, none 
were there except women and crippled soldiers. We were at last 
obliged to descend into the cellar, where I laid myself in a corner 
near the door. My children put their heads upon my knees. An 
abominable smell, the cries of the children, and my own anguish of 
mind, did not permit me to close my eyes during the whole night. 
On the next morning the cannonade begun anew, but in a different 
direction. I advised my fellow-sufferers to withdraw, for a while, 
from the cellar, in order to give time to clean it, for we should 
otherwise injure our health. On an inspection of our retreat, I 
discovered that there were three cellars, spacious and well vaulted. 
I suggested that one of them should be appropriated to the use of 
the officers who were most severely wounded, the next to the fe- 
males, and the third, which was nearest to the staircase, to all the rest 
of the company. We were just going down, when a new thunder 
of cannon threw us again into alarm. Many persons, who had no 
right to enter, threw themselves against the door. My children 
were already at the bottom of the staircase, and every one of us 
•would probably have been crushed to death, had I not put myself 
before the entrance and resisted the intruders. Eleven cannon- 
balls passed through the house, and made a tremendous noise. A 
poor soldier, who was about to have a leg amputated, lost the other 
by one of these balls. All his comrades ran away at that moment, 
and when they returned, they found him in one corner of the room 
in the agonies of death. I was myself in the deepest distress, not 
so much on account of rny own dangers, as of those to which my 
husband was exposed, who, however, frequently sent me messages, 
inquiring after my health. Major Harnage's wife, a Mrs. Reynell, 
the wife of the good lieutenant who had, on the preceding day, 
shared his soup with me, the wife of the commissary, and myself, 
were the only officers' wives at present with the army. We sat 
together, deploring our situation, when somebody having entered, 
all my companions exchanged looks of deep sorrow, whispering at 
the same time to one another. I immediately suspected that my 
husband had been killed. I shrieked aloud; but was immediately 
told that nothing had happened to my husband, and was given to 
understand, by a sidelong glance, that the Lieutenant had been 
killed. His wife was soon called out, and found that the Lieu- 
tenant was yet alive, though one of his arms had been shot off, 
near the shoulder, by a cannon-ball. We heard his groans and la- 
mentations during the whole night, which were dreadfully re-echoed 
through the vaulted cellars ; and in the morning he expired. My 



Xlvi APPENDIX. 

husband came to visit me during the night, which served to diminish 
my sadness and dejection in some degree. On the next morning 
■we thought of making our cellar a more convenient residence. 
Major Harnage and his wife, and Mrs. Reynell, took possession of 
one corner, and transformed it into a kind of closet by means of a 
curtain. I was also to have a similar retreat ; but I preferred to 
remain near the door, that I might escape more easily in case of 
fire. I had straw put under my mattresses, and on these I laid myself 
with my children ; and my female servants slept near us. Oppo- 
site to us were three officers, who, though wounded, were deter- 
mined not to remain behind if the army retreated. One of them 
was Captain Green, aid-de-camp to General Phillips, and a very 
amiable and worthy gentleman. All three swore they would not 
depart without me in case of a sudden retreat, and that each of 
them would take one of my children on his horse. One of my hus- 
band's horses was constantly in readiness for myself. Mr. de 
Riedesel thought often of sending me to the American camp, to 
save me from danger ; but I declared that nothing would be more 
painful to me than to live on good terms with those with whom he 
was fighting ; upon which he consented that I should continue to 
follow the army. However, the apprehension that he might have 
marched away repeatedly intruded itself into my mind; and I 
crept up the staircase, more than once, to confirm or dispel my 
fears ; and when I saw our soldiers near their watch-fires, I became 
more calm, and could even have slept. 

********** 

The want of water continuing to distress us, we could not but 
be extremely glad to find a soldier's wife so spirited as to fetcli 
some from the river, an occupation from which the boldest might 
have shrunk, as the Americans shot every one who approached it. 
They told us afterwards that they spared her on account of her sex. 

I endeavored to dispel my melancholy, by continually attending 
to the wounded. I made them tea and coffee, for which I received 
their warmest acknowledgments. I often shared my dinner with 
them. One day a Canadian officer came creeping into our cellar, 
and was hardly able to say that he was dying with hunger. I felt 
happy to offer him my dinner, by eating which he recovered his 
health and I gained his friendship. On our return to Canada I 
became acquainted with his flimily, 

I also took care of Major Bloomfield, who was wounded by a 
musket-ball, which passed through both his cheeks, knocked out his 
teeth and injiu-ed his tongue. He could retain nothing in his 



APPENDIX. Xlvii 

Riouth, and soup and liquids were his only nourishment. Fortu- 
nately we had some Rhenish wine, and in the hope that the acidity 
would contribute to heal his wound, I gave him a bottle, of which 
he took a little now and then, and with such effect that he was 
soon cured. I thus acquired a new friend, and enjoyed some hap. 
piness in the midst of cares and sufferings, which otherwise would 
have weighed heavily upon my spirits. On one of these mournful 
days, General Phillips, wishing to pay me a visit, accompanied my 
husband, who came once or twice daily, at the risk of his life ; and 
seeing our situation, and observing the entreaties I made to my 
husband not to be left behind, in case the army should suddenly 
break up, and my reluctance to fall into the hands of tne enemy, 
he plead my cause, and said, on retiring " I would not, for ten 
thousand guineas, see this place again. I am heart-broken with 
what I have seen." 

All our companions, however, did not deserve so much commise- 
ration. We had some in our cellars who ought not to have been 
there, and who afterwards, when we were prisoners, were in per- 
feet health, and walked about quite erect, and strutted as much as 
they could. We remained six days in this doleful retreat. At last a 
capitulation was talked of, in consequence of having lost, by useless 
delays, the opportunity of effecting our retreat. A cessation of 
hostilities took place, and my husband, who was quite exhausted by 
fatigue, could now, for the first time, sleep quietly in a little cham- 
ber, while I retired with my children and the maid-servants into 
the adjoining room. Towards one o'clock a person came and asked 
to speak with him. I was very reluctant to awaken him at that 
hour of the night ; and I soon observed that the errand did not 
much please him, for he immediately sent the messenger back to 
the head-quarters, and laid himself down again, out of humor. 
Soon after this General Burgoyne sent for all the Generals and 
field-officers to attend a council of war early next morning, when 
he proposed to break the capitulation, in consequence of some 
groundless information he had received. It was, however, decided 
that this step was neither advisable nor practicable ; and this deter- 
mination was very fortunate for us, as the Americans told us after- 
wards, that, had we broken the treaty, we should all have been cut 
to pieces. This they could easily have done, as our army was re- 
duced to four or five thousand men, while we had given them time 
to raise theirs to twenty thousand. On the morning of the 16th, 
however, my husband was obliged to repair to his post, and I to my 
cellar. 



Xlviii APPENDIX. 

On the 17th of October the capitulation was carried into effect. 
The Generals waited upon the American General Gates, and the 
troops surrendered themselves prisoners of war, and laid down their 
arms. The time had now come for the good woman, who had risked 
her life to supply us with water, to receive the reward of her ser- 
vices. Each of us threw a handful of money into her apron; and 
she thus received more than twenty guineas. At such a moment at 
least, if at no other, the heart easily overflows with gratitude. 
********** 

When I drew near the tents, a good-looking man advanced to- 
wards me, and helped the children from the calash, and kissed and 
caressed them ; he then offered me his arm, and tears trembled in 
his eyes. " You tremble," said he ; " do not be alarmed, I pray 
you." " Sir," cried I, "a countenance so expressive of benevo- 
lence, and the kindness which you have evinced towards my chil- 
dren, are sufficient to dispel all apprehension." He then ushered 
me into the tent of General Gates, whom I found engaged in friend. 
ly conversation with Generals Burgoyne and Phillips. General 
Burgoyne said to me : " You can now be quiet, and free from all 
apprehension of danger." I replied that I should indeed be repre- 
hensible if I felt any anxiety when our General felt none, and was 
on such friendly terms with General Gates. 

All the Generals remained to dine with General Gates. The 
gentleman who had received me with so much kindness, came and 
said to me, " You may find it embarrassing to be the only lady in 
such a large company of gentlemen ; will you come with your chil- 
dren to my tent, and partake of a frugal dinner, offered with the 
best will ?" " By the kindness you show to me," returned I, " you 
induce me to believe that you have a wife and children." Hfe in- 
formed me that he was General Schuyler. He regaled me with 
smoked tongues, which were excellent, with beefsteaks, potatoes, 
fresh butter, and bread. Never did a dinner give so much pleasure 
as this. I was easy, after many months of anxiety ; and I read the 
same happy change in those around me. That my husband was 
out of danger, was a still greater cause of joy. After our dinner, 
General Schuyler begged me to pay him a visit at his house near 
Albany, where he expected that General Burgoyne would also be 
his guest. I sent to ask my husband's directions, who advised me 
to accept the invitation. As we were two days' journey from Al- 
bany, and it was now near five o'clock in the afternoon, he wished 
me to endeavor to reach, on that day, a place distant about three 
hours ride. General Schuyler carried his civilities so far as to so- 



APPENDIX. Xlix 

licit a well-bred French officer to accompany me on that first part 
of my journey. 

********** 

On the next day, we reached Albany, where we had so often 
wished ourselves ; but we did not enter that city, as we hoped 
we should, with a victorious army. The reception, however, 
which we met with from General Schuyler, his wife and daughters, 
was not like the reception of enemies, but of the most intimate 
friends. They loaded us with kindness ; and they behaved in the 
same manner towards General Burgoyne, though he had ordered 
their splendid establishment to be burnt, and without any necessit}' 
as it was said. But all their actions proved, that at the sight of 
the misfortunes of others they quickly forgot their own. General 
Burgoyne was so much affected by this generous deportment, that 
he said to General Schuyler, '' You are too kind to me, who have 
done you so much injury." " Such is the fate of war," replied he ; 
"let us not dwell on this subject." We remained three days with 
that excellent family, and they seemed to regret our departure. 



The following account of a visit to the field of Saratoga, on the 
fiftieth Anniversary of that battle, viz : October 17, 1827, was 
written immediately afterward for the use of the author of the pre- 
sent work. The writer, the venerable Samuel Woodruff, Esq. of 
Windsor, (Conn.) it need not be added, was a participator in the 
battle : — 

Windsor, Conn. Oct. 31, 1827. 

My Dear Sir,— 

You may remember when I had the pleasure to dine with you 
at New-York, on the 14th inst. I had set out on a tour to Saratoga, 
to gratify a desire I felt, and which had long been increasing, to 
view the battle-grounds at that place, and the spot on which the 
royal army under the command of General Burgoyne surrender- 
ed to General Gates on the 17th of October, 1777. 

I thought it would add something to the interest of that view to 
me, to be there on the 17th, exactly half a century after that me- 
morable event took place. You will excuse me for entering a little 
into the feelings of Uncle Toby respecting Dendermond, in the 
compressed and hastily written journal I kept of my tour, especially 
as you will take into consideration that I had the honor to serve 



1 APPENDIX. 

as a volunteer under General Gates part of that campaign, and was 
in the battle of the 7th of October. 

I take the liberty to inclose to you an extract of that part of my 
journal which embraces the principal object of my tour. 

Oct. 17th. — After a short stop in Troy, took another stage for Sa- 
ratoga ; — at Lansingburgh, a neat and handsome village, about three 
miles from Troy, crossed the Hudson on a covered bridge of ex- 
cellent workmanship, over to Waterford, (Old Half Moon Point,) 
another rich and flourishing village. Arrived at Fish creek in Sa- 
ratoga at half past 2 P. M. through a beautiful, well-cultivated in- 
terval of alluvial land on the west side of the Hudson — every thing 
from Albany to this place wears the appearance of wealth and 
comfort. Put up at Mr. Barker's tavern. After dinner viewed the 
ruins of the British fortifications and head-quarters of Gen. Burgoyne. 
He kept his quarters for several days at a house, now standing and 
in good repair, about a mile north of Fish creek, on the west side 
of the road, owned by Mr. Busher, an intelligent farmer about 
seventy-five years of age. While Burgoyne held his head-quarters 
at this house. Baron Reidesel, of the royal army, obtained leave of 
the Commander-in-chief to place his lady the Baroness and their 
three small children under the same protection ; — these were also 
accompanied by lady Ackland and some other ladies, wives of 
British officers. At that time some of the American troops were 
stationed on the east bank of the Hudson, opposite the house, 
in fair view of it, and within cannon-shot distance. Observ- 
ing considerable moving of persons about the house, the Ameri- 
cans supposed it the rendezvous of the British officers, and com- 
menced a brisk canniinade upon it. Several shot struck and shat. 
tered the house. The Baroness with her children fled into the 
cellar for safety, and placed herself and them at the north-east 
corner, where they were well protected by the cellar wall. A Bri- 
tish surgeon by the name of Jones, having his leg broken by a can- 
non ball, was at this time brought in, and laid on the floor of the 
room which the Baroness and the other ladies had just left. A 
cannon ball entered the house near the north-east corner of the 
room, a few inches above the floor, and passing through, broke and 
mangled the other leg of the poor surgeon. Soon after this he ex- 
pired. Mr. Busher very civilly conducted me into the room, cellar, 
and other parts of the house, pointing out the places where the balls 
entered, die. From hence I proceeded to, and viewed with very 
great interest, the spot where Gen. Burgoyne, attended by his stafl^, 
presented his sword to Gen. Gates ; also, the ground on which the 



APPENDIX. Il 

arms, &c., of the royal army were stacked and piled. This memo, 
rable place is situated on the flat, north side of Fish creek, about 
forty rods west of its entrance into the Hudson, and through which 
the Champlain canal now passes. 

Contiguous to this spot is the N. W. angle of old Fort Hardy, a 
military work thrown up and occupied by the French, under Gen. 
Dieskau, in the year 1755. The lines of intrenchment embrace, 
as I should judge, about fifteen acres of ground. The outer works 
yet retain the appearance of a strong fortification, bounded south 
on the north side of Fish creek, and east on the west bank of the 
Hudson. Human bones, fragments of fire-arms, swords, balls, tools, 
implements, broken crockery, &c. &c., are frequently picked up on 
this ground. 

In excavating the earth for the Champlain canal, which passes a 
few rods west of this fort, such numbers of human skeletons were 
found as render it highly probable this was the cemetery of the 
French garrison. 

About twenty or thirty rods west of the aqueduct for the canal 
over Fish creek, stood Gen. Schuyler's mills, which were burned by 
order of Gen. Burgoyne. 

Gen. Schuyler's dwelling-house also, and his other buildings, 
standing on a beautiful area a little south-east of the mills on the 
south side of the creek, suffered the same fate. The mills have been 
rebuilt and are now in operation, at the same place where the 
former stood. The grandson of Gen. Schuyler now lives in a house 
erected on the scite of the former dwelling of his father — a covered 
bridge across the creek adjoining the mills. 

I cannot, in this place, omit some short notices of Gen. P. Schuy- 
ler. It seems he was commander-in-chief of the northern army 
until the latter part of August, 1777, at which time he was super- 
seded by Gen. Gates. 

I remember at that time there was some excitement in the public 
mind, and much dissatisfaction expressed on account of that mea- 
sure ; and with my limited means of knowledge, I have never been 
able to learn what good reason induced his removal. Few men in 
our country at that time ranked higher than Gen. Schuyler in all the 
essential qualities of the patriot, the gentleman, the soldier, and scho- 
lar. True to the cause of liberty, he made sacrifices which few 
were either able or willing to bear. The nobility of soul he possess- 
ed, distinguished him from ordinary men, and pointed him out as 
one deserving of public confidence. 

At the surrender of the royal army, he generously invited Gen. 
65 



lil APPENDIX. 

Burgoyne, his suite, and several of the principal officers, with their 
ladies, to his house at Albany ; where, at his ov/n expense, he fed 
and lodged them for two or three weeks with the kindest hospitality. 

This is the man, who, a few days before, had suffered immense 
loss in his mills and other buildings at Fish creek, burned by order 
of the same Burgoyne who had now become his guest. 

Respecting Gen. Gates, I will only say, finis coronet opus. 

Oct. 18th. — At 7 A. M. started on foot to view some other and 
equally interesting places connected with the campaign of 1777. 
Three miles and a half south of Fish creek, called at the house of a 
Mr. Smith, in which Gen. Fraser died of wounds received in the 
battle of the 7th October, and near which house, in one of the Bri- 
tish redoubts, that officer was buried. This house then stood by 
the road on the west margin of the intervale, at the foot of the 
rising ground. A turnpike road having since been constructed, 
running twenty or thirty rods east of the old road, the latter has 
been discontinued, and Mr. Smith has drawn the house and placed 
it on the west side of the turnpike. 

Waiving, for the present, any farther notices of this spot, I shall 
attempt a concise narrative of the two hostile armies for a short 
period anterior to the great battle of the 7th of October. 

The object of the British General was to penetrate as far as Al- 
bany, at which place, by concert, he was to meet Sir Henry Clinton, 
then with a fleet and army lying at New- York. In the early part of 
September, Gen. Burgoyne had advanced with his army from Fort 
Edward, and crossed the Hudson with his artillery, baggage wag- 
gons, &c., on a bridge of Taoats, and intrenched the troops on the 
highlands in Saratoga. On the 19th of September they left their 
intrenchments, and moved south by a slow and cautious march to- 
ward the American camp, which was secured by a line of intrench- 
ments and redoubts on Behmus's heights, running from west to east 
about half a mile in length, terminating at the east end on the west 
side of the intervale. 

Upon the approach of the royal army, the American forces sal- 
lied forth from their camp, and met the British about a mile north 
of the American lines. A severe conflict ensued, and many brave 
officers and men fell on both sides. The ground on which this bat- 
tle was fought was principally covered with standing wood. This 
circumstance somewhat embarrassed the British troops in the use 
of their field artillery, and afforded some advantage to the Ameri- 
cans, particularly the riflemen under the command of the brave Col. 
Morgan, who did great execution. Night, which has so often and 



APPENDIX. iiii 

so kindly interposed to stop the carnage of conflicting hosts, put an 
end to the battle. Neither party claimed a victory. The royal 
army withdrew in the night, leaving the field and their slain, with 
some of their wounded, in possession of the Americans. The loss 
of killed and wounded, ,is near as could be ascertained, was, on the 
part of the British, 600 ; and on that of the Americans, about 350. 
The bravery and firmness of the American forces displayed this 
day, convinced the British officers of the difficulty, if not utter im- 
possibility of continuing their march to Albany. The season for 
closing the campaign in that northern region was advancing — the 
American army was daily augmenting by militia, volunteers, and 
the " two months men," as they were then called. The fear that 
the two royal armies might effect their junction at Albany, aroused 
the neighboring states of New England, and drew from New Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont, a large body of 
determined soldiers. Baum's defeat at Bennington had inspired 
them with new hopes and invigorated their spirits. 

Under these circumstances, inauspicious to the hostile army, the 
British commander-in-chief summoned a council of war ; the re- 
sult of which was to attempt a retreat across the Hudson to Fort 
Edward. Gen. Gates, apprehending the probability of this mea- 
sure, seasonably detached a portion of his force to intercept and cut 
off the retreat, should that be attempted. 

Many new and unexpected difficulties now presented themselves. 
The boats which had served the British army for a bridge, being 
considered by them as of no further use, had been cut loose, and 
most of them floated down the river. The construction of rafts 
sufficient for conveying over their artillery and heavy baggage, 
would be attended with great danger as well as loss of time. The 
bridges over the creeks had been destroyed ; great quantities of 
trees had been felled across the roads by order of the American 
General ; and another thing, not of the most trifling nature. Fort 
Edward was already in possession of the Americans. In this per- 
plexing dilemma the royal army found themselves completely check- 
mated. A retreat, however, was attempted, but soon abandoned. 
Situated as they now were, between two fires, every motion they 
made was fraught with danger and loss. They retired to their old 
entrenched camp. 

Several days elapsed without any very active operations on either 
side. This interval of time was, however, improved by the royal 
army in preparations to make one desperate effort to force the line 
of the American camp, and cut their way through on their march 



liv APPKNr.IX. 

to Albany. The American army improved the meantime in 
strengthening their outer works, arranging their forces, and placing 
the Conlinentals on the north side of the intrenchments, where va- 
liant men were expected ; thus preparing to defend every point of 
attack ; Morgan, with his riflemen, to form the left flank in the 
woods. 

During these few days of " dreadful preparation," information 
daily arrived in our camp, by deserters and otherwise, that an at- 
tack would soon be made upon the line of our intrenchments at 
Behmus's heights, near the head-quarters of Gen. Gates. 

The expected conflict awakened great anxiety among the Ame- 
rican troops, but abated nothing of that sterling intrepidity and 
firmness which they had uniformly displayed in the hour of danger ; 
all considered that the expected conflict would be decisive of the 
campaign at least, if not of the war in which we had been so long 
engaged. Immense interests were at stake. Should Gen. Bur- 
goyne succeed in marching his army to Albany, Gen. Clinton, without 
any considerable difiiculty, would there join him with another pow- 
erful English army, and a fleet sufficient to command the Hudson 
from thence to New-York. Should this junction of force take 
place, all the states east of the Hudson would be cut off from all 
efficient communication with the western and southern states. 

In addition to this there were other considerations of the deepest 
concern. The war had already been protracted to a greater length 
of time than was expected on either side at the commencement. The 
resources of the country, which were at first but comparatively small 
in respect to those things necessary for war, began to fail ; the 
term of enlistment of many of the soldiers had expired. 

We had no public money, and no government to guarantee the 
payment of wages to the officers and soldiers, nor to those who 
furnished supplies for the troops. Under these discouraging circum- 
stances it became extremely difficult to raise recruits for the army. 
During the year 1776 and the fore part of '77, the Americans suffer- 
ed greatly by sickness, and were unsuccessful in almost every ren- 
contre with the enemy. Men's hearts, even the stoutest, began to 
fail. This was indeed the most gloomy period of the war of the 
revolution. 

On the 7th of October, about 10 o'clock, A. M. the royal army 
commenced their march, and formed their line of battle on our 
left, near Behmus's heights, with Gen. Fraser at their head. Our 
pickets were driven in about one o'clock P. M. and were followed 
hy the British troops on a quick march to within fair musket shot 



APPENDIX. Iv 

distance of the line of our entrenchments. At this moment com- 
menced a tremendous discharge of cannon and musketry, which 
was returned with equal spirit by the Americans, 

For thirty or forty minutes the struggle at the breastworks was 
maintained with great obstinacy. Several charges with fixed bayo- 
nets were made by the English grenadiers with but little effect. 
Great numbers fell on both sides. The ardor of this bloody con- 
flict continued for some tune without any apparent advantage 
gained by either party. At length, however, the assailants began 
to give way, preserving good order in a regular but slow retreat — 
loading, wheeling, and firing, with considerable effect. The Ame- 
ricans followed up the advantage they had gained, by a brisk and 
well-directed fire of field-pieces and musketry. Col. Morgan with 
his riflemen hung upon the left wing of the retreating enemy, and 
galled them by a most destructive fire. The line of battle now be- 
came extensive, and most of the troops of both armies were brought 
into action. The principal part of the ground on which this hard 
day's work was done, is known by the name of " Freeman's farms." 
It was then covered by a thin growth of pitch-pine wood without 
under brush, excepting one lot of about six or eight acres, which 
had been cleared and fenced. On this spot the British grenadiers, 
under the command of the brave Major Ackland, made a stand, and 
brought together some of their field artillery ; this little field soon 
became literally "the field of blood." These grenadiers, the flower 
of the royal army, unaccustomed to yield to any opposing force in 
fair field, fought with that obstinate spirit which borders on madness. 
Ackland received a ball through both legs, which rendered him unable 
to walk or stand. This occurrence hastened the retreat of the grena- 
diers, leaving the ground thickly strewed with their dead and wounded. 

The battle was continued by a brisk running fire until dark. The 
victory was complete ; leaving the Americans masters of the field. 
Thus ended a battle of the highest importance in its consequences, 
and which added great lustre to the American arms. I have seen 
no official account of the numbers killed and wounded ; but the loss 
on the part of the British must have been great, and that on the part 
of the Americans not inconsiderable. The loss of general officers suf- 
fered by the royal army was peculiarly severe. But to return to 
the Smith house. I made known to the Smith family the object of 
my calling upon them ; found them polite and intelligent, and 
learned from them many interesting particulars respecting the bat- 
lie of the 7th of October. For several days previous to that time 
Gen. Burgoyne had made that house his head.quarters, accompa- 



<i^. 



IVl APPENDIX. 

nied by several general officers and their ladies, among whom were 
Gen. Fraser, the Baron and Baroness Reidesel, and their children. 

The circumstances attending the fall of this gallant officer have 
presented a question about which military men are divided in opi- 
nion. The facts seem to be agreed, that soon after the commence- 
ment of the action, Gen. Arnold, knowing the military character 
and efficiency of Gen. Fraser, and observing his motions in leading 
and conducting the attack, said to Col. Morgan, " that officer upon 
a grey horse is of himself a host, and must be disposed of. Direct 
the attention of some of the sharp-shooters among your riflemen to 
him." Morgan, nodding his assent to Arnold, repaired to his rifle- 
men, and made known to them the hint given by Arnold. Imme- 
diately upon this, the crupper of the grey horse was cut oft' by a 
rifle bullet, and within the next minute another passed through the 
horse's mane, a little back of his cars. An aid of Fraser noticing 
this, observed to him, " Sir, it is evident that you are marked out 
for particular aim ; would it not be prudent for you to retire from 
this place ?" Fraser replied, " my duty forbids me to fly from dan- 
ger ;" and immediately received a bullet through his body. A few 
grenadiers were detached to carry him to the Smith house. 

Having introduced the name of Arnold, it may be proper to note 
here, that although he had no regular command that day, he volun- 
teered his service, was early on the ground, and in the hottest part 
of the struggle at the redoubts. He behaved, (as I then thought,) 
more like a madman than a cool and discreet officer. Mounted on 
a brown horse, he moved incessantly at a full gallop back and forth, 
until he received a wound in his leg, and his horse was shot under 
him. I happened to be near him when he fell, and assisted in get. 
ting him into a litter to be carried to head-quarters. 

Late in the evening Gen. Burgoyne came in, and a tender scene 
took place between him and Fraser. Gen. Fraser was the idol of 
the British army, and the officer on whom, of all others, Burgoyne 
placed the greatest reliance. He languished through the night, and 
expired at 8 o'clock the next morning. While on his death-bed he 
advised Burgoyne, without delay, to propose to Gen. Gates terms 
of capitulation, and prevent the further effusion of blood ; that the 
situation of his army was now hopeless ; they could neither advance 
nor retreat. He also requested that he might be buried in the great 
redoubt — liis body to be borne thither between sunset and dark, by 
a body of the grenadiers, without parade or ceremony. This re- 
quest was strictly complied with. 

After viewing the house to my satisfaction, I walked up to the 



JUN8-^9<* 



APPENDIX. Ivii 

place of interment. It is situated on an elevated piece of ground, 
commanding an extensive view of the Hudson, and a great length 
of the beautiful interval on each side of it. I was alone ; the 
weather was calm and serene. Reflections were awakened in my 
mind which I am wholly unable to describe. Instead of the bustle 
and hum of the camp, and confused noise of the battle of the war- 
rior, and the shouts of victory which I here witnessed fifty years 
ago, all was now silent as the abodes of the dead. And indeed far, 
far the greatest part of both those armies who were then in active life 
at and near this spot, are now mouldering in their graves, like that 
valiant ofiicer whose remains are under my feet, — " their memories 
and their names lost," — while God, in his merciful Providence, has 
preserved my life, and after the lapse of half a century has afforded 
me an opportunity of once more viewing those places which force 
upon my mind many interesting recollections of my youthful days. 
Oct. 19th. — On my return down the river from Albany to New- 
York, in the steamboat " North America," I had leisure and oppor- 
tunity for reflecting upon the immense wealth and resources of the 
state of New-York — greater I believe, at this time than that of any 
other two states in the Union. It would be hazarding nothing to 
say, that this single state possesses more physical power, and more 
of the " sinews of war," than were employed by the whole thirteen 
states through the war of the revolution. This, among other con- 
siderations, led me to the reflection how honorable it would be to 
the state, and how deserving of the occasion, that a monument be 
erected at or near the place where the royal army surrendered by 
capitulation on the 17th of October, 1777, in commemoration of an 
event so important in our national history. The battle of the 7th 
of October may be considered, in its effects and consequences, as the 
termination of the war, with as much propriety as that of Bunker's 
Hill was the commencement of it. 

I am. Sir, 

Very respectfully yours, 

SAMUEL WOODRUFF. 
William L. Stone, Esq. 



END OF vol. I. 



-^0^ 



.-^ _<^^ 



,^^ ^• 



.,-^.^3^.* <J^ 













^ ^^ ^^\ '^^^^ ^i8C^= ^^ 



3.^ ^ 





















"'T.s- A& 



\o^"-- 



iUS'/ ^-^^ ^ 



;^,"-- .>*^..,. V" ■--./.,. .„V'"" v^\^-/%" 



.%<^^>\i^':^^ ^^-^^^ 






0-. '' 












^ \:s^:^^^ ^' ^:^^.^,s^v 












'^^" .^^^" *<" 




: "^c^ -r; 



.* <i>' 
\^^^ 



^^-^'^.^^0.%: 
\.^' 











\> o •> * , -^ \> „ -. » , ^^ 



^ OS 






.^^ ^ 



» Ci 



V ^ 



^ %^ ;im\ ^/ :'Mh\ ^<^' - 













»^-%.o^ 



^<^^- '. 







. < 




^^0^ 









'%<^- if'^V^%^ 













\.^^^ :£MK^ ■%,,# 






^'^7?:t^^^ 




0^ . 



-^AO^ 






%^ 






c9' ^ 



<^ °^ '\ 



^^^^\^ 9. ,_. 



. -A^ 



C^Q. 




: --^^0^ : 






.^" ^ 



o. ^ 




■^f/ 
















a^ ^-< 






^ A*^ <^ " / . . o A^ <* 










jJiP^ 9,, -- ^ O. 



% 

.\./ 


V ^^ <■<>, 


)V ^ \ * ^ 






■" ^^Siinnfi^^ 


J ^ 



:%. 







/A^_ "^^0^ -> 



j./\^^/V,_ 



(H Q^ 






^.^^ =rMI^': '^^ ^ 



' A*^ <^ ' ' , 



^^^-^^ 



^ -^ ^: 










^.^ 



'...ss A 



0^ ^ ^ ' . 



^^O^ 

J ^ 



^^0^ ^fZ^W "^^0^ /^^^^/X= '%^S 



<^ °^ -. ^ 



xV <^ 






























." v^" '^ 



^^ °^- 



^ ^. ^>:^r-:%:'^'"x>^.-".^ 



\,^^ r>M^,^ %..^ _^v^ 



'' "^-^^/:^^.V'^-^ 













.^^ <?. 



,^^ -. 



^0^ 

.^^ ^ 






^^.^^^ 










:?i'=, ■^^-.^^''^' 












^ ;/:|.;V:^c^ ^k^\^^Vd^ 



^^""^ '. 



x^ ^ ■; 



%^^ 

S A 






^ V «-l^ 

- .^^ 



<^o^ \ 



'%. 



\^ .^ 









^d< :i^/)^,^^ -^c^ ^i^:^;^,'° %c^ 



..^ o.^' 



^ ^- 



aH O^ 






<A 



'^. 









^■^>\^^ 



<> w...^ ^0^ 

.^^ 









V 






^ - .^0' 













0^ ^* 



.^''^ 



^^0^ 



. .N^ 



^ 






<!5 Q^ 



^ 4' ^-^'■■'^'-- ^. .0^ 















^^ ■-'•-- C'*. 












^^0^ 



<i> O. 






